Calcutta, April 26 :    Calcutta, April 26:  Seventeen years after 16 Ananda Margis were burnt alive on Bijon Setu, Calcutta High Court pulled up the police force for its failure to 'bring the offenders to book'. Police chief D.C. Vajpai has been directed to furnish a report by May 21, stating what progress has been made in the investigation into the 'mass murder' of April 30, 1984. Justice Barin Ghosh delivered the rap on the knuckles of the police on Thursday morning, while responding to a petition moved by the Ananda Marga Pracharak Samitee seeking permission to hold a protest rally on April 30, from Deshapriya Park to Bijon Setu. Bidyut Kiran Mukherjee, representing the Margis, informed the court that the rally was held every year to commemorate the black day and remind the people that the state administration 'had done nothing' to punish the offenders. At this, Justice Ghosh asked Bandana Mondal, counsel on behalf of the state, why the police had not 'acted properly' in this case. 'So many years have passed since the incident. Why couldn't the police bring the offenders to book?' he demanded. Justice Ghosh then directed Mondal to ask the police commissioner to appear before the court at 2 pm and clarify his position regarding the case. At 2 pm, the state counsel informed the court that D.C. Vajpai was busy in pre-poll preparations. Justice Ghosh then directed the police chief to furnish a progress report on the case by May 21. In court, Bidyut Kiran Mukherjee told Justice Ghosh: 'Every year, the Ananda Marga is denied permission by the police to take out the procession, forcing them to appeal to the high court every time.' Defending the decision to deny the Margis permission for their roadshow, Bandana Mondal, counsel on behalf of the state, informed the court that 'they carry snakes and weapons' to the rally and also 'dance holding human skulls'. Mukherjee denied the charge and said that it was a 'silent protest march', ending with a 'prayer meeting' on Bijon Setu. 'There is no question of carrying weapons or dancing with skulls,' he added. Justice Ghosh gave the Margis the go-ahead for the rally, but ordered them not to carry snakes, weapons or human skulls. According to police sources, at least 19 persons had been arrested for their alleged involvement in the crime. They were being tried at the Alipore courts. But Krishnananda Avadhoot, who deals with the legal matters of the Samitee, alleged that 'no investigations had been carried out by the police, who had only managed to arrest a few cart-pullers and rickshaw-pullers' from Kasba. 'None of the people named in the FIR, including the then CPM MLA from Ballygunge Sachin Sen, was arrested,' added Avadhoot.