High Court rules Bangla 'bandh' illegal

Kolkata, Dec 20 (UNI) The Calcutta High Court today ruled the 48-hour Bangla 'bandh' as illegal and asked the Trinamool Congress to call off its strike beginning tomorrow.

A two-Judge bench, comprising Chief Justice V S Sirpurkar and Justice A K Mitra issued a direction to the party after hearing a petition filed by two members of the All India Minority Forum(AIMF).

The court held that the 'bandh' was absolutely illegal and it was against the development of any prosperous economy.

The HC directed the State government to take all necessary measures for smooth traffic flow so that people could reach their offices and do other jobs. It also directed the government to arrest the protesters if they created obstruction to the movement of vehicles and cause any other disturbance to public life.

Advocate General Balai Roy appeared for government and counsel Idris Ali stood for petitioners Masijul Haque and Amartya Panda of the forum.

UNI XC PC HS RS1725