Highlights:
- Partial relief for Durga Puja organisers in West Bengal
- Calcutta High Court issues new rules and regulations for Durga Puja
- High Court has allowed more people in pandals, but the entry has been restricted
One day ahead of the Durga Puja in the state of West Bengal, the Calcutta High Court has given some relief to puja organisers in the state and has issued a set of new rules and relaxations soon after the court earlier orders of a complete a ban on the entry of general public.
Just days before the Durga Puja festivities were to start in the state of West Bengal, the Calcutta High Court, on Monday, declared that all the pandals across the state no-entry zones to prevent the surge in coronavirus cases in the state.
On Wednesday, however, the high court heard a review petition filed by a group of Durga Puja organisers and the High Court issued a set of new guidelines and has now allowed more people to enter the pandals while asking the bigger pujas to expand the pandal premises.
Having said this, the court has still not given permission for the popular rituals of “Anjali” on Ashtami and “Sindur Khela” on Dashami.
Here are the directives laid down by the Calcutta High Court for Durga Puja
- The Dhakis have been allowed to be present just outside the no-entry zone in each pandal
- The list of people who are allowed in the pandal should be fixed on a day-to-day basis
- The list has to be hung every day at 8:00 AM
- For the smaller Durga Pujas, the number of maximum persons allowed will now be 15
- The larger pujas (pandals must be more than 300 square metres in size) and the maximum number of people to be included in the prior list is 60. But not more than 45 to be present at any point of time.
The matter has been disposed of by the High Court and there will be no further hearings.
A division bench of the Calcutta High Court which comprised of Justices Sanjib Banerjee and Arijit Banerjee, while hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), said that no visitors will be allowed to enter the Durga Puja pandals in the state of West Bengal.
For the smaller pandals, barricades will have to be put up five metres from the entrance, while for the bigger ones, the distance has to be 10 metres, the High Court ordered.
There should be “no-entry” boards on the barricades.
