The legal tussle beween two factions of the committee has led to a delay in starting the preparations for Bagbazar Durga Puja
Kolkata: With Durga Puja just over a month away, Baghbazar Sarbojanin Durgotsav, the oldest community Durga Puja in Kolkata, is still embroiled in a legal battle. Contenders to various posts at Bagbazar Sarbojanin Durgotsav and Exhibition were at the Calcutta High Court on Thursday to decide if the committee president could have used his vote for the five posts that had ended in a tie.
Appearing for Rabi Sankar Sengupta, the by-law provides that in case there is a tie, the president has one vote as per Rule 37, and not five votes, according to the arguments by senior advocate Chatterjee and advocate Srijib Chakraborty. The president went to a trial court to get an order so that he could cast a vote to break the tie.
“Our point was the court should have first decided how many votes he will cast,” advocate Chakraborty said. This came under dispute. Senior advocate Saptanshu Basu argued that the president had one vote per tie post, hence, supported the lower court’s order.
This year, the fight started on Aug 30, when the election under the purview of two special officers took place in the annual general meeting (AGM) of the committee. In the 14 posts, nine results were decisive, while results in five posts ended in a tie.
Let it be done,” the single judge said. Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, who heard the case, reserved the judgment. , “Why are you fighting over puja?