The State Government of West Bengal, by a notification dated 02.10.2020 extended a grant to the tune of Rs. 50,000 to the organisers of the Durga Puja all over the State, including 3000 within the jurisdiction of Kolkata Police. The total cost to the exchequer amounted to Rs. 170 Crore. The Writ Petitioner has questioned ‘the propriety of such grant on divers counts’.
Submissions on behalf of the petitioner:
It was contended on behalf of the petitioner that the provision for the grant was not included in the budget and, as such, it has to be seen as a grant under Article 282 of the Constitution, according to which such grants could only be resorted to in emergency situations and that too only for some public activity or purpose. The petitioner contended that the notification issued by the State Government is against the principle of secularism and the constitutional ethos as it seeks to ‘finance the pujas for the purpose of undertaking religious activities, especially when such benefit is not conferred on others’.
Submissions on behalf of the respondent/state:
It was submitted by the State that as per one of the sub-headings referring to the grant to puja organisers under the main heads of expenses on account of Police in the State, Rs. 40 Crore was allocated in the budget papers for the financial year 2020-21, and therefore, any objection thereto should have been raised in the House itself and not at the time of disbursement. It was further contended by placing reliance on several judgments that a tax-payer may not have a right to question the propriety of any public expenditure if such expenditure is pursuant to any legislative mandate.
Observations of the Court:
The Court perused the notification dated 02.10.2020 to determine the purpose for the grant and observed that the notification authorises the designated personnel to draw the amount and make the disbursements for the purposes as indicated in paragraph 1 of the notification.
Para 1 of the notification stated as follows:-
"Whereas Community Policing is an important part of Police activity for strengthening the bond between the Police Authorities and the citizens, the West Bengal Police and the Kolkata Police involve local Clubs and Organizations in the districts as well as in Kolkata, for various activities round the year, like assisting the Police through Volunteers in ‘Safe Drive Save Life’ campaigns, maintaining sanitation and public safety in managing crowd during community festivals; and whereas it is also necessary to promote, increase and facilitate the involvement of women in assisting community policing activities; and whereas it is advisable to do the above mentioned community development work through local institutions like 4 Clubs and Puja Committees including similar organizations led by women. Whereas in the present Covid pandemic situation ensuring physical distancing, keeping sufficient provision of masks and hand sanitizers for people in general and visitors in particular, are obligatory in and around all the Durga Puja pandals, and to assist the Police and the general administration in maintaining all other health related protocols, engagement of sufficient Volunteers are required in compliance of general guideline of Durga Puja, 2020 issued by the Chief Secretary vide Memo No. 319- CS/2020 dated 28.09.2020 and whereas it is felt necessary to increase the amount of assistance in view of the additional arrangement to be made in the form of procurement of masks, hand sanitizers, face shields etc. for use in and around the Puja pandals.”
The court negated the contention that the allocation of grant is anti-secular in nature and observed that,
“(...) Durga Puja may be the biggest festival in the State, irrespective of such festival being connected with a religious occasion, the festivities can be the springboard for promoting socially relevant programmes and there may not be any religious flavour to such secular programmes being pursued.”
In this regard, the Court also remarked that the funds are strictly meant for public purpose to further strengthen the bond between the police and the citizens and involvement of women in assisting community policing on one hand and for the purpose of procurement of the specified items on the other.
The Court also observed that the quantum of grant has exceeded the figure as was mentioned in the Budgetary Papers and observed that,
“(...) it appears that the increase of the “amount of assistance”, as referred to in the second recital, is only in view of the pandemic and the need, in such context, to procure “masks, hand sanitizers, face shields etc. for use in and around the Puja pandals.”
The Court stressed that the allocated grant would be undoubtedly utilised exclusively for the purposes specified in the Budgetary Papers by the State Government as the same would be ensured by way of the ‘utilization certificates’. Moreover, the Court remarked that, since all the organisers have been given a copy of the notification dated 01.10.2020 along with the cheques, they would be ‘mindful and extremely cautious in dealing with the funds’.
Further, it was also mentioned that the office-bearers of the organisers of the various pujas will remain personally responsible for ensuring that such funds made available to them for the public purposes, as indicated above, are used only for such purposes and no other.
The Court directed the Police that the leaflets and handbills or notices incorporating the words indicated in the immediate preceding paragraph should immediately be prepared by the police authorities for circulation to all the puja organisers who have received the disbursements.
Regarding the utilisation certificates, the Court gave the directions to submit the same along with the bills and vouchers in support thereof to the relevant Sub-Divisional Officer or officers of equivalent rank within the Kolkata Police jurisdiction as may immediately be designated by the State Home Secretary.
And finally, regarding the larger questions including the very propriety of making such grant, the Court held that it’d be considered once and for all immediately after the puja vacation so that the repetitive exercise is not undertaken every September or October.
CASE DETAILS
Case Name: Sourav Dutta v. State of West Bengal
Coram: Sanjib Banerjee, J. and Arijit Banerjee, J.
Date: 17th October, 2020
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