Calcutta High Court on Friday granted permission to the RSS to hold a rally on Sunday at the SAI complex in Burdwan where the organisation’s chief Mohan Bhagwat is scheduled to deliver a speech.

The RSS had moved the court after the state government’s Pollution Control Board (PCB) refused permission to hold the rally because of the ongoing board examinations.

While allowing the RSS to hold the rally, Justice Amrita Sinha in her order asked the organisers to take proper steps so that examinees were not disturbed in any manner.

“The organisers will have to ensure that examinees around the rally venue are not disturbed by the use of sound system,” the judge said.

The court also asked the RSS to restrict its rally to one-and-a-half hours.

The order followed a petition by the RSS which alleged that the PCB was not allowing it to use microphones and sound boxes at its proposed rally at the SAI complex.

The advocate general, Kishore Datta, informed the court that the PCB’s restriction was based on national decibel norms in any area during exams.

The advocate general said: “Madhyamik examination in on. So, the PCB cannot allow the RSS to hold the rally.”

Appearing for the RSS, advocate Dhiraj Trivedi said the SAI complex was built on 50 bighas of land.

“The meeting will be held at the closed complex of the Sports Authority of India. There is no school within a 2-3km radius of the complex. There are one or two model schools around the meeting venue. Moreover, the meeting will be held on Sunday when education institutions remain closed,”
Trivedi argued.

Datta, however, said a school was situated within 500 meters of the complex.

Issuing the order, Justice Sinha said: “Since the meeting venue is not a congested area, there should be no problem.”