Kolkata: In a major blow to the Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta High Court on Monday banned its controversial advertisement against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Hearing a public interest litigation filed recently, a division bench of Chief Justice T.B.N. Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee of the High Court ordered the state government to remove its advertisement, which openly declared that the CAA and the NRC would not be implemented in the state, till the next order.
The state government advertisement titled No CAB, No NRC appeared on the pages of the state government’s social networking sites and certain Bengali TV news channels after the controversial Act was passed by the Parliament.
The BJP and West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar earlier denounced the ad and demanded for its removal. The division bench also asked for a detailed report from the Trinamul government about the petitioners’ claim that the state government’s advertisement against the CAA and the NRC was carried out using public money.
The division bench, which has been hearing petitions on the collapse of law and order and damage to Railway property in the state, in wake of the massive violence over the CAA and NRC, besides the one against the ad, scheduled the matter for hearing on January 9.
It also ordered the Railways to submit a report stating its actions taken to prevent loss of public property and the financial loss incurred due the violent agitation. Advocate general Kishore Dutta submitted before the court that law and order situation in the state has been under control and the internet services have been restored.
