Rally participants on July 21 must reach Esplanade before 8am or after 11am, the high court said on Friday.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh directed police to ensure smooth traffic between 9am and 11am so employees of offices within a 5km radius of the court can report to work.
The judge was hearing a petition by a lawyers’ association seeking an order directing the state to prevent traffic disruption on the day.
“I direct that all human processions within the jurisdiction of the commissioner of police, Kolkata, be allowed till 8am on July 21, 2025. An hour will be granted for the crowd to settle down. From 9am to 11am, the police will ensure there is no traffic congestion on routes leading to Calcutta High Court or within 5km of it, where offices are located in central Calcutta,” Justice Ghosh said.
“From 11am, the resumption of human procession... would take place. The commissioner of Kolkata Police will ensure adequate deployment of police for traffic movement,” he added.
The written order was not uploaded on the court website till late on Friday.
The July 21 rally, organised annually by Mamata Banerjee’s party, commemorates the killing of 13 people in police firing in 1993. Then a Youth Congress leader, Mamata had led a march to the state secretariat. The rally draws hundreds of thousands each year. Traffic curbs are imposed in major portions of central Calcutta. Though the rally begins around noon, congestion starts at least two hours earlier and continues after it ends around 4pm, according to the police.
State advocate-general Kishore Datta and Trinamool counsel Biswarup Bhatta-
charya challenged the locus standi of the petitioner, the All India Lawyers Union, calling the petition politically motivated.
“It is a wing of a particular political party. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Rajya Sabha MP of that party, is the president of the association,” said Biswarup Bhattacharya.
Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, a CPM leader and former mayor of Calcutta, entered the Upper House in 2020.
“On July 21, 1993, 13 were shot dead by the police during the rule of this party. Martyrs’ Day has been held every year since 1994,” Biswarup Bhattacharya added.
Advocate-general Datta told the court: “The petitioner has no locus standi. A writ petition cannot be guided by vested political interests. They approached the court at the last moment to jeopardise the large gathering.”
Justice Ghosh said the matter will be heard again in November.