The Calcutta High Court today struck the final blow to the Publishers and Book Sellers Guild, ordering them to stop proceedings for the 32nd Kolkata Book Fair and cancelling all permissions to allow the fair to be held in Maidan.The fair was being held at Maidan in violation of the environmental laws, the division bench ruled. The Guild had prayed for a stay order, but the Bench refused. The Guild now plans to move Supreme Court but it will not be possible before Thursday, it was learnt. The division bench of Acting Chief Justice, Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice K K Prasad, nullified the permission given by the Defence ministry to have the Book Fair in maidan from January 31. The bench also directed the Guild to restore the Maidan to the Army after bringing it back to its original green state within a week.The Bench observed that Kolkata Police, KMC, WBPCB, Fire Brigade and other agencies had taken the decision in “hot haste” while granting permission without complying with the provisions of enviromental and local laws. The West Bengal Pollution Control Board came in for criticism too.The court said in spite of noticing the fact that the atmospheric condition around the Maidan was unhealthy, there was no effort on the part of the PCB to measure the Respiration Particulate Matter (RPM) till 2006. The WBPCB had last recorded the RPM level during the 2002 Book Fair. The court observed that the PCB took no steps to alert people about the health hazards through a public address system during the fair and has failed to discharge its duty.The PIL, asking the court to cancel the permission granted to the Guild by the army authority for holding the Book Fair at Maidan was filed by advocate Sabyasachi Roy Chaudhury. Advocate Kalyan Banerjee moved the pettion before the Calcutta High court. According to the documents of the WBPCB, it was clear that the apprehension of the petitioner regarding the enviromental degradation was valid.Guild secretary Tridib Kumar Chatterjee said, “We can decide on the next step only after getting the court order in hand on Wednesday. We are disappointed at the order but only after the executive committee meeting can we decide whether the book fair will be held at an alternative place or not be held at all.” Sudhangshu Dey, ground convenor of the Guild, said: “We have instructed the contractors not to dismantle the bamboo structure until we get the court order in hand.”
