With some conditions, High Court gives nod to Abhishek’s Kolkata rally

The joint forum argued that since the ruling party had chosen the same venue for their rally, where the DA protesters had been holding sit-in demonstrations for the past two months after getting permission from the court on this count, there were possibilities of deterioration of the law and order situation. After hearing the petition, Justice Mantha gave conditional approval to the ruling party to hold the rally.

The court said all the important points of the rally venue, including the entry and exit points, will have to be kept under CCTV surveillance. The court also ordered the police to set up a three-tier barricade at the rally venue.

Justice Mantha also said no provocative statements can be made by any speaker addressing the rally. Directing both parties to maintain peaceful coexistence, Justice Mantha directed that the barricades should be removed and rally venues should be cleaned up.

Following the court order, Abhishek Banerjee shared a post on his Facebook account, appealing to his party workers to attend the public meeting at Shahid Minar Ground to protest against the “anti-people policies of the Centre, use of central agencies against the Opposition and stopping funds to the state government for running several social welfare schemes.