SC to decide on West Bengal govt’s discretionary power to grant funds to Durga Puja committees

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the State of West Bengal in a petition challenging the State Government’s decision to grant funds to Durga Puja committees..A Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said that it will decide on the discretionary power of State to give such grants..The Court, however, did not stay the Calcutta High Court order which would mean that the State government can go ahead with the grant of funds..The Supreme Court had yesterday agreed to hear a petition against the West Bengal government’s decision to grant Rs. 10,000 to Durga Puja committees in the State..The case is an appeal against an order passed by the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday..The High Court had refused to go into the challenge against the state government’s decision to grant money to Durga Puja committees, stating that it would not want to interfere with the manner in which the Executive utilised government funds..The State, in turn, had submitted before the High Court that the funds will be used for assisting the police under its Traffic Safety Campaign, and not for religious purposes..The petition assails the decision of the state government to grant a total of Rs. 28 crore to Puja organizers as being against the principles of secularism, which is a part of the Basic Structure of the Constitution of India. It is contended that there is no public purpose involved in organizing Durga Puja, which is a religious programme..“Since no public purpose would be served by granting money and/or handing out concessions to Durga Puja organizers, the said decision of the state violates the provision of Article 282 of the Constitution of India and thus, the said decision of granting money to the puja committees is liable to be set aside. There is no provision of law by which State exchequer could be utilized for giving gift to puja organizer.”.Further, it is argued that the use of taxpayers’ money for repair/construction of any religious place offends the spirit and object of Article 27 of the Constitution..Therefore, the decision of the Calcutta High Court to dismiss the petition on grounds of maintainability has been challenged in the Supreme Court..Photo Credit: Shiladitya Banerjee