The Calcutta High Court allowed the West Bengal BJP unit to conduct a protest near the R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital against the rape and murder of a lady doctor working at the medical hub.
The BJP had initially sought to stage their protest at the Shyambazar five-point crossing, close to the hospital. The party then went to the Calcutta High Court for relief after permission was denied by the police.
Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj of the single-judge bench today permitted the BJP to go ahead with their agitation for five days from Wednesday. The court laid down that the agitation could be carried out from 12 noon to 9 p.m.
The BJP had scheduled a protest in Shyambazar on August 16, and thus, the temporary stage for that was readied. However, the Kolkata Police dismantled it very early on Tuesday. As BJP workers tried to rebuild it, tensions ran high and there were scuffles with the police.
Following this incident, the Kolkata Police imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 around the R.G. Kar Hospital, prohibiting any type of gathering, protest, or rally within that area for seven days, starting from August 18.
Not deterred by this, the BJP had approached Justice Bhardwaj to intervene and finally allowed the rally.
The state BJP leadership welcomed the verdict of the High Court and said that opposition parties in West Bengal are increasingly forced to seek judicial clearance to conduct peaceful political activities.
The instant case is concerning the tragic death of a lady doctor whose body with 14 injuries, as revealed by her post-mortem report, was found in the seminar hall of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital on August 9. Only one person has been arrested so far in this case.
