The Calcutta High Court rejected a public interest litigation seeking directions to the Central Government to permit the West Bengal tableau of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in this year’s Republic Day Parade at New Delhi.
A division bench presided over by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava, after observing that the petitioner has approached the court at a late stage, stated that no effective direction can be issued now. The bench, also comprising Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj, noted various defects in the petition, which were pointed out by the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) YJ Dastoor, who appeared before the court on behalf of the Central Government.
In the PIL, the petitioner who is an advocate at Calcutta High Court, submitted that this year marks the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose but the Central government rejected the tableau of the West Bengal government themed on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose & Indian National Army, without assigning any reason.
While responding to the petition, ASG YJ Dastoor, in his submission, requested that the plea shouldn’t be taken into consideration as the same was filed in contravention to Rule 20 of the Rules of the High Court at Calcutta relating to application under Article 226 of the Constitution, & that no demand of justice was made by the petitioner before filing the present petition. Further, he mentioned that the petitioner furnished an incorrect affidavit by mentioning the facts stated in the writ petition were true to his knowledge though the petition was true to his knowledge and was based on newspaper cuttings.
The ASG submitted that so far as reasons for rejection are concerned, if the State demands, the same can be duly supplied & that decision to exclude a tableau is taken as per existing rules.
The Court, after taking into consideration all the arguments, ruled against the petitioner and dismissed the petition.
