Kolkata, Aug 10 (IANS) A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed before a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday, seeking the withdrawal of the state government order on the removal of microphones and loudspeakers from all religious places in West Bengal.

The PIL was filed by four-time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member and senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee on behalf of Danish Faruqi, a lawyer himself.

The petitioner has questioned the legal sanction behind the order to remove loudspeakers and microphones from religious places, especially mosques.

Banerjee claimed that the action relating to the removal of loudspeakers and microphones from mosques was done by the police based on a verbal order from the Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari. “This has become a new trend in West Bengal in the new regime. The Chief Minister says something and the police implement the order without an official order or memo being issued," Banerjee said.

The public interest litigation was admitted by the division bench headed by the Calcutta High Court’s Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty. However, the date of the first hearing in the matter is yet to be announced.

Another petition was filed on Monday at Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Sougata Bhattacharya seeking permission to conduct a protest rally on Tuesday from Rajabazar in North Kolkata to Rani Rashmoni Road in central Kolkata against the recent development over the removal of microphones and loudspeakers from mosques.

The petition from an individual, Abdul Samad, was filed on his behalf by advocate Sabyasachi Chattopadhyay, a CPI(M) leader. The matter might be heard later in the day by Justice Bhattacharya’s bench.

Earlier, the opposition parties accused the state government of specially targeting the mosques for the removal of loudspeakers and microphones from the mosques. However, CM Adhikari had clarified that this action was not limited to mosques, but for all religious places, including temples.

--IANS

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