HC denies permission for Rail & road block protest

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday refused to allow a protest by a social welfare organisation which planned to block Railways and highways to convince the state government to form a Santhali Education Board.

The bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya on Wednesday instead directed the state to engage in a discussion with the aggrieved persons in order to alleviate their grievances.

The organisation had planned to block Rail and highways on December 20. The court, relying on its previous order where it had declined a similar protest by the Kurmi community, observed that such protest intending to block Rail and road cannot be allowed

“We had an occasion to deal with a similar agitation by the ‘Kudmi’ community. This was objected to and a PIL was filed. An order was passed and the said protest was disallowed by us. This is essentially a policy matter, demanding reservation for a particular community and the court cannot pass any directions on the government to formulate any policies,” the court observed.

It was learnt that the organisation ‘Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal’ and others had called for an indefinite National Highway blockade at Khemasuli under Kharagpur Local Police Station.

In 2023, the organisation had also met the Jhargram district magistrate, demanding formation of the Santali Education board in the state.