UPDATE: Calcutta HC pulls up Mamata again on Durga idol row
September 21, 2017  13:12
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Questioning the West Bengal government's curbs on Durga idol immersion, the Calcutta high court on Thursday said that the state was 'exercising extreme power without any basis.'

The Acting Chief Justice of Calcutta HC in scathing remarks told the state government, "Just because you are the state, can you pass arbitrary order? If you get a dream, that something will go wrong, you cannot impose restrictions."

Hearing three PILs challenging the restrictions on immersion of idols at the end of the five-day Durga Puja festival, a bench said a mere assumption that a law-and-order situation might arise, owing to Vijaya Dashami and Muharram falling one after the other, could not be the basis of imposing curbs on immersion timings.

Observing that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had herself told a public meeting that Hindus and Muslims lived together in harmony in the state, the bench said, "Listen to what the head of the state says and not a police officer."

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