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In a shot in the arm for West Bengal chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Supreme Court has refused to stay the government decision to grant Rs 28 crore to 28,000 Durga puja committees in the state.
The Supreme Court, however, issued a notice to the West Bengal government while hearing a plea filed by advocate Sourav Dutta challenging the Mamata Banerjee government’s decision in this regard.
On September 10, Mamata Banerjee had declared that Rs 10,000 would be given to each of the 28,000 puja committees across the state –3,000 in the city and 25,000 in the districts, which would cost the government Rs 28 crore.
On Thursday, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was apprised that on Wednesday the Calcutta High Court had refused to interfere with the Mamata Banerjee government’s decision to grant Rs 10,000 each to 28,000 puja committees in the state.
The bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, was told by lawyer P V Dinesh that the decision of the state government was against the established principle of law and an urgent hearing was needed on the plea.
