Calcutta High Court allows Ram Navami procession in Howrah

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday allowed a Ram Navami procession by an organisation in Howrah on March 26 but imposed strict restrictions on carrying weapons.

Petitioner Anjani Putra Sena, a non-profit organisation, moved the high court claiming that the police refused permission to it to hold a procession on Ram Navami in Howrah city.

The lawyer representing the organisation claimed that it has been holding Ram Navami processions for the last 25 years.

The court had, on March 20, permitted the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to hold the Ram Navami rally there from 3 pm to 6 pm on the same day.

Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the West Bengal government, prayed that the Anjani Putra Sena procession be held in the morning.

Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya granted permission to the organisation to hold the procession between 8.30 am and 1 pm on March 26 to ensure that it does not clash with the timing of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad rally.

Imposing conditions, the court directed the organisers to ensure that the number of participants must not exceed 500 at any given time and that no weapon should be brandished from the procession.

Justice Bhattacharyya also said that only one vehicle, which would carry the tableau and the idol of Lord Rama, would be allowed in the rally.

However, the participants will be allowed to carry flags and/or any other symbolic weapons, which should be made only of PVC, the court directed.