In a significant judgment on Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court overturned prohibitory orders that were placed around the vicinity of the ‘Durga Puja Carnival’ venue on Red Road, enabling a protest rally by junior doctors to occur concurrently.
The orders, issued under Section 163 of the BNSS, had restricted access to several roads near where the West Bengal government had organized the carnival on Tuesday evening. These restrictions were challenged in court by the Joint Platform of Doctors, which led to a legal victory allowing their protest, dubbed the ‘Droher Carnival,’ to proceed from Rani Rashmoni Road, following the court’s decision.
Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur criticized the broad scope of the prohibitory orders as “disproportionate, excessive, and unreasonable,” leading to their cancellation. The judge remarked that such limitations on fundamental rights “do not serve any bona fide purpose” and highlighted that the order “severely restricts and reflects an unfettered exercise of discretion, which opens the doors to arbitrariness and is an antithesis to the Rule of Law.”
To ensure public safety and order, Justice Kapur directed the state government to install barricades and guard rails between Rani Rashmoni Road and Red Road, ensuring that the two events could proceed without any breach of peace.
