Rath Yatra row: SC asks Bengal government to allow BJP to hold meetings, rallies

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the West Bengal government to allow the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to hold meetings and organise rallies in the state given that the party provides the time and the venue details in advance.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi ruled that the apprehensions of West Bengal government on BJP's Rath Yatra were not unfounded.

The court said that BJP has to address the apprehensions of the state government as it is government's responsibility to maintain law and order.

For holding Rath Yatra,the SC directed BJP to place before the state government a revised proposal and asked the state to consider the proposal in right spirit as "holding procession by party is part of democracy."

The West Bengal unit of BJP moved the top court challenging a Calcutta high court division bench order that quashed a single bench's conditional go-ahead to the party's 'Rath Yatra' programme in the state.

The BJP has contended that because of the High Court order, the BJP can't go ahead with its mass contact programme.

The BJP's plans to take out 'save democracy rallies' hit a roadblock when the High Court's division bench on December 21 quashed the single bench's order that had given the go-ahead to the programme, saying the party should not create any trouble during their programme as they would be held liable.