The Calcutta High Court has dismissed a petition filed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) seeking to restrain authorities from removing its temporary bookstall near Jadavpur Coffee House in Kolkata during the Durga Puja festivities.
Justice Partha Pratim Roy declined to grant relief to the party, observing that merely applying for permission and depositing the prescribed fee does not confer a legal right to operate a temporary structure when the requisite authorisation has not been obtained.
The dispute arose after the CPI(M)’s Jadavpur 1 Area Committee alleged that municipal officials, accompanied by a police contingent and a bulldozer, had attempted to dismantle its temporary bookstall on October 17.
The party told the Court that it had been setting up the bookstall outside Jadavpur Coffee House during Durga Puja for nearly 49 years. For the 2026 festivities, it intended to operate the stall from October 13 to October 22.
According to the petition, the CPI(M) had submitted an application to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on September 19 seeking permission to erect the stall. It had also informed the officer-in-charge of the local police station about its proposed installation.
The party further submitted that it had deposited ₹3,208 with the municipal corporation towards the temporary structure. It approached the High Court seeking protection against the alleged attempt to dismantle the stall, contending that the authorities should not be permitted to remove it except in accordance with law.
Rejecting the plea, the Court noted that the payment receipt had been issued subject to police permission. The requisite authorisation to operate the stall had not, however, been granted.
The Court held that the filing of an application and payment of the prescribed charges could not, by themselves, be treated as sufficient grounds to claim protection against removal. A party seeking such judicial intervention must first establish that it possesses the necessary permission to erect the structure.
Justice Roy also relied on an earlier ruling of a Division Bench of the High Court concerning a separate dispute involving a CPI(M) bookstall. Applying the principles laid down in that decision, the single judge concluded that the party had failed to establish a legal entitlement to continue operating the stall in the absence of the requisite approval.
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