Ananda Marga Pracaraka Sangha And Another v. State Of Tripura And Another THE HONBLE MR JUSTICE U. B. SAHA The instant
Case Details
Case No :WP(C) 0000338/2013 Party Name : Ananda Marga Pracaraka Sangha And Another Vs State Of Tripura And Another THE HONBLE MR JUSTICE U. B. SAHA
Legal Reasoning
The instant writ petition is filed by the Ananda Marga Pracaraka Sangha and the Diocese Secretary of the said Ananda Marga for quashing the letter dated 6.11.2013 (Annexure-5 to the writ petition) issued by the District Magistrate & Collector, West Tripura, the respondent No. 2 herein, imposing certain conditions, namely, (1) Only 200 (two hundred) people shall be allowed daily during the programme in the Durgabari Temple. (2) The programme in the premises shall be allowed for maximum 3 (three) hours daily i.e. from 12 noon to 3 p.m. (3) No persons shall be allowed to enter in the premises with any kind of luggage/baggage/lathis/sharp objects etc. (4) No assembly/fooding/cooking shall be allowed as the public places outside the premises. Heard Mr. S.M. Chakraborty, learned senior counsel assisted by Ms. P. Chakraborty, Mr. Rajib Choudhury as well as Mr. R.R. Datta, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners. Also heard Mr. T.D. Majumder, learned Govt. Advocate appearing for the State respondents at this motion stage. The grievance of the petitioners, in short, is that the petitioner No.1 being a religious organization applied to the D.M. & Collector, the respondent No. 2, for permitting them to utilize the Durga Bari Nat Mandap, Agartala from 8th to 10th November, 2013 for holding a special religious convention and accordingly, the respondent No. 2 vide his letter dated 27.9.2013 (Annexure P-3 to the writ petition) permitted the Secretary, Ananda Marga Pracaraka Sangha for utilization of Durgabari Nat Mandap in connection with Dharma Maha Sammelan (Spiritual conference) with thirteen conditions. The petitioners accepting the said conditions deposited the rent of Durgabari Nat Mandap as well as security money as mentioned in the said letter, but all on a sudden, vide his letter dated 6.11.2013, the respondent No. 2 has imposed some other unreasonable and arbitrary conditions limiting the number of people to be allowed daily in the Dharma Maha Sammelan and also the time of the said programme along with other conditions. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid letter dated 6.11.2013 and the conditions made therein, the petitioners have filed the instant writ petition. Mr Datta Majumder, learned Govt. Advocate has placed para-wise comments even at this motion stage considering that Dharma Maha Sammelan organized by the petitioners would be started from today and it would be proper for the court to decide the matter at this motion stage itself. In para-wise comments, it is specifically stated that the petitioners were given permission for holding their Dharma Maha Sammelan at Durga Bari Nat Mandap which has a plinth area of around 4125 sq. ft. and can comfortably accommodate maximum two hundred people and not beyond that. Any congregation surpassing the maximum capacity of the Nat Mandap would inevitably lead to overcrowding and attend disorder inside the temple premises revered and visited daily by a large number of devotees. It is also stated that on 6.11.2013, the Head Priest of the Durgabari temple, Pandit Dulal Chandra Bhattacharya, informed the respondent No. 2, who is the Sabait of Durgabari temple, alleging that the petitioners have in addition to the Nat Mandap constructed number of large stages in and around the Nat Mandap from which it can be presumed that there would be assembly of more than one thousand people though in the temple there is no arrangement for conducting any programme with more than two hundred people. Not only that, apart from constructing large number stages, the organization of the petitioners has also built a large stage just in front of the temple&&&&&s garbha-griha (sanctum sanctorum) which is disgraceful for the temple. Besides, the aforesaid construction, the organsation has also made another stage near the temple from which it can be easily guessed that there would be huge assembly of the people for which the temple has no logistic facility. Moreover, it would also be inconvenience for proper preparations for the Devi Katyaani puja scheduled to commence from the 16th November, 2013. Upon receipt of the aforesaid letter from the Head Priest, the respondent No. 2 also collected some information from various sources including the general people and considering the gravity of the concerns the head priest expressed in his letter dated 6.11.2013, the respondent No. 2 has called the Samgha representatives of the petitioner No. 1 in his office chamber on 6.11.2013 to have deliberation over the issues raised by the Head priest when the respondent No. 2 insisted upon them that they should specify the likely number of participants of the convention, but the representatives of the petitioners declined to do that or otherwise remained non-committal. In view of that, the respondent No. 2 has passed the impugned order imposing certain conditions. It is further stated in the para-wise comments that the permission was granted only for holding the religious convention and not for staying overnight in the temple premises. Thus, the petitioners were debarred from coming into the temple premises with their baggage and luggage which they could have kept conveniently at their respective accommodation places. Mr. Chakraborty, learned senior counsel while urging for relief sought for in his usual fairness submits that the petitioners would not use any portion of the Durga Bari temple except Nat Mandap. The D.M. & Collector while granting permission on earlier occasion did not restrict the number of people to be entered into the temple premises daily during the religious programme in the Nat Mandap. But all on a sudden, by way of putting some other conditions created problem for the petitioners to organize their Dharma Maha Sammelan. He has also assured this Court that no person would enter into the temple with any kind of luggage, baggage, lathi, sharp objects etc. except their necessary belongings for the Sammelan and the petitioners are also ready to abide by the condition No. 4 imposed in the impugned letter dated 6.11.2013, inter alia, that no assembly/fooding/cooking shall be allowed as the public places outside the premises, i.e. outside the Nat Mandap as they would go for their own arrangement in any private places or in any public place with the permission of the Govt. Mr. Datta Majumder, learned Govt. Advocate at this stage on instructions further submits that as agreed to by the petitioners to perform their programme in the premises of Durga Bari Nat Mandap from 2 pm to 6 pm, the respondent No. 2 has no objection to allow them to perform their programme from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. instead of 12 noon to 3 p.m. as mentioned in condition No. 2 of the impugned letter dated 6.11.2013 subject to the petitioners and their followers shall leave the Durga Bari Nat Mandap after 6 p.m. and they would not go either for erecting any construction or for any extra pendal inside the Durga Bari temple area except utilization of Nat Mandap as permitted. As agreed to by the learned counsel for the parties and considering the urgency of the matter, the instant writ petition is taken up at this motion stage and disposed of with the following agreed order. (i) The D.M. & Collector, West Tripura, the respondent No. 2, is directed to allow the petitioners to perform their Dharma Maha Sammelan with 300 people daily during the programme in the Durga Bari Nat Mandap from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in terms of the letter dated 27.9.2013 as well as letter dated 6.11.2013. (ii) Neither the petitioners nor any of their followers shall be allowed to enter into the premises of the Durga Bari temple with any kind of luggage, baggage, lathi and any sharp objects etc. and there shall not be any assembly for fooding, cooking as public places outside the temple without permission of the Government. But they should be allowed to take their necessary religious belongings which are required for performing their Dharma Maha Sammelan. With the aforesaid modification of the Annexure-5 to the writ petition i.e. the impugned letter dated 6.11.2013, the instant writ petition is disposed of by this order as agreed to by the parties. Copy of the para-wise comments placed by Mr. Datta Majumder is marked as "X" for identification and kept on record future reference. Copy of this order be furnished to the learned counsel for the parties during the course of the day. Download Date: 8-05-2017 16:05 2/2