Kolkata, March 26 (IANS) A single-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted permission for a rally in Baruipur-Paschim, the Assembly constituency of Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay.

The rally is scheduled to be held on Thursday afternoon.

The High Court also granted permission to Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari to hold a protest in front of the office of the superintendent of Baruipur Police District on Thursday afternoon after the rally.

Being denied police permission to conduct the rally and the demonstration, Adhikari had approached the single-judge Bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh on Tuesday.

In the petition, Adhikari accused the district police of denying him permission to conduct the rally on March 27.

The matter was heard on Wednesday and at the end of the hearing, Justice Ghosh granted the LoP permission to go ahead with his scheduled programmes on Thursday.

However, the Bench also imposed several restrictions on the rally and demonstration.

First, the rally and demonstration have to be conducted between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Second, there should not be more than 1,000 participants in the scheduled protest.

The judge also ruled that the maximum number of microphones to be used in the protest cannot exceed 25 and the microphones should not be used in hospital zones.

Earlier on March 19, Adhikari reached the Baruipur-Paschim Assembly to hold a rally there. However, that rally by the BJP coincided with a programme of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

There were several spats followed by slogans and counter-slogans between the Trinamool Congress and BJP legislators in the area over the two programmes being held at the same time in the area. Following the violence that erupted over the issue, the LoP had to retreat and cancel his scheduled protest.

On Wednesday, Justice Ghosh also asked the police to submit to his Bench a report on the attack on the convoy of the LoP on March 19.

The protest by Adhikari in the Baruipur-Paschim constituency on that day was against alleged discrimination faced by BJP legislators within the Assembly when the House was in session.

The LoP accused the Speaker of adopting a one-sided approach in conducting the proceedings of the House by suspending the Opposition legislators, including him, from attending the proceedings.

Thereafter, the LoP planned a similar protest at the Baruipur-Paschim Assembly on March 27.

However, after being denied permission by the police, he approached the Calcutta High Court.

–IANS

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