SC refuses to stay West Bengal decision to grant ₹28 crore to Durga puja committees

A bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta, however, issued notice to the state government on a plea challenging the decision to grant ₹10,000 each to 28,000 Durga Puja committees, and sought its reply within six weeks.

The Supreme Court Friday refused to stay the decision of the West Bengal government to grant ₹28 crore to 28,000 Durga puja committees across the state.

Artists give finishing touches to idols of deities at a Durga Puja pandal, in Kolkata, Thursday, Oct 11, 2018. The SC has refused to stay Bengal government decision to grant ₹10,000 each to 28,000 Durga Puja committees in the state. (AP)

A bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta, however, issued notice to the state government on a plea challenging the decision to grant ₹10,000 each to 28,000 Durga Puja committees, and sought its reply within six weeks.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, said the money has not been directly paid to puja committees and has been given through the state police.

The top court was hearing a petition filed by advocate Sourav Dutta, challenging the Mamata Banerjee government’s decision to dole out ₹28 crore to puja committees in the state for Durga Puja celebrations.

On September 10, Banerjee had declared that ₹10,000 would be given to each of the 28,000 puja committees across the state --3,000 in the city and 25,000 in the districts, costing the government ₹28 crore.

The Calcutta High Court had on October 10 refused to interfere with the state government’s decision to grant the amount to puja committees in the state.