Sourav Dutta & Anr @APPELLANT@Hash State of West Bengal & Ors

,,,,,,,

This writ application is filed by two writ petitioners by way of public interest litigation. The petitioner no.1 resides in the State of West Bengal and the,,,,,,,

petitioner no.2 is a practicing Advocate in this Court. According to the writ petitioners, the State Government decided to extend grant to 28000 Puja",,,,,,,

Organiser for organizing Durga Puja in the year 2018 apart from extending the benefit of waiver of licence fees for  fire safety certificate and other,,,,,,,

licence fees. It is the further contentions of the petitioners that the extension of benefit of the above grant has been announced without any formal,,,,,,,

Notification in the name of the Governor of West Bengal, as appears in a news report dated September 11, 2018 published in a daily newspaper",,,,,,,

“Indian Expressâ€. According to the above report, 3000 Durga Committees in Kolkata and 25000 Puja Committees across the State of West",,,,,,,

Bengal will get Rs.10,000/- each.",,,,,,,

According to the petitioners, there is no public purpose involved in organizing Durga Pujas rather it is a religious programme. It is the further",,,,,,,

contention of the petitioners that no public purpose will be served by granting money and/or handing out concession to the Durga Puja Organizers and,,,,,,,

for that reason, the above decision of the State Government, is violative of the provisions of the Article 282 of the Constitution of India. As a",,,,,,,

consequence, according to the petitioners, the State funds, which consist of payment of various taxes by the bona fide citizens are utilized for religious",,,,,,,

purpose offending the spirit and object of Article 27 of the Constitution of India. According to the petitioners, granting of money and concession for",,,,,,,

Durga Pujas amounts to patronizing and/or favouring a particular religion and/or a religious community over all others by the State Government,,,,,,,

thereby violating the provisions of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India.,,,,,,,

A preliminary objection is raised by Mr. Kishore Dutta, learned Advocate General, West Bengal with regard to entertaining this writ application at this",,,,,,,

stage. Our attention has been drawn towards an order passed by the Finance Department, Group N â€" Budget Branch under File No.FB/O/2E-",,,,,,,

28/2018 (Home and Hill Affairs Department) to submit that the Finance Department agreed to open a new head in the Budget, bearing No.2055-00-",,,,,,,

109-024-Grants to Community Puja organizers-31-02 (other grants)-V pertaining to demand no.68 in this regard to provide for Rs.28 Crores under the,,,,,,,

aforesaid newly opened sub-head.,,,,,,,

According to the above order, equivalent amount may be surrendered from six Departments to provide the aforesaid amount for the above purpose.",,,,,,,

Our further attention has been drawn towards a Government Order bearing No. 876(2)-Sanction/HP/BMC/14M-301/16 dated September 24, 2018.",,,,,,,

According to the above Government Order, the Governor has been pleased to accord administrative approval and financial sanction of a sum of Rs.28",,,,,,,

crores only for payment of ad-hoc grant at the rate of Rs.10,000/- only to each of 28,000 Clubs/Puja organizations under the jurisdiction of West",,,,,,,

Bengal Police and Kolkata Police respectively for the community Policing activities like assisting the Police through Volunteers in Safe Drive,,,,,,,

campaigns, maintaining sanitation and public safety in managing crowd during community festivals.",,,,,,,

Denying and disputing the allegations of the petitioners, it is further submitted by the learned Advocate General that there is no nexus of the aforesaid",,,,,,,

grant with organizing Durga Puja by various organizations or clubs. According to him, it has been decided by the Government to hand over the",,,,,,,

aforesaid fund to the registered clubs or organizations, who prayed for permission for organizing Durga Pujas through out all the districts including",,,,,,,

Kolkata, in the State of West Bengal. According to him, the total number of such registered organizations is about 20000. Therefore, there is no scope",,,,,,,

of arbitrary selection of registered organizations for extending the benefit of the aforesaid grant.,,,,,,,

It is open for the State Government to involve the public through various Clubs and Puja Organizers for assisting the Police through Volunteers in Safe,,,,,,,

Drive campaigns, maintaining sanitation and public safety in managing crowd during community festivals. With regard to the question of law in",,,,,,,

entertaining this writ application, it is submitted by the learned Advocate General that expenditure by Government will be deemed to be authorized if in",,,,,,,

the budget and in the Appropriation Acts there is a necessary provision for spending money on the particular acts. When provisions are made in the,,,,,,,

budget under different heads, it is impracticable to provide expenditure of money for a particular purpose because their cases may not have arisen at",,,,,,,

all at that time and may arise in future. According to him, the Government has the discretion to spend money for a particular purpose as and when",,,,,,,

occasion arises. Thereafter, once expenditure has been incurred, in the subsequent year, it will be included in the accounts and then it is for the",,,,,,,

legislature to decide upon the propriety of the expenditure or otherwise. In other words, according to him it is not open for the Court to interfere with",,,,,,,

such decision of the Government at the first instance. Reliance is placed by him on the decisions of Umesh Mohan Sethi â€" Vs. â€" Union of India &,,,,,,,

Anr. reported in 2012 SCC Online Del 6186, Common Cause â€" Vs. â€" Union of India reported in (2014) 6 SCC 552 and Common Cause â€" Vs.",,,,,,,

â€" Union of India reported in (2015)7 SCC 1 in support of his above submissions.,,,,,,,

It is further added by Mr. Saktinath Mukherjee, learned Senior Advocate appearing on behalf of the State respondents that the provisions of Article",,,,,,,

282 of the Constitution of India confers wide discretion on a State Government. It is for the State Government to decide what is public purpose and,,,,,,,

what is not a public purpose. If the Government purports to spend money for a purpose which it characterizes as a public purpose though in point of,,,,,,,

fact it is not a public purpose, the proper place to criticize the action of the Government would be the legislature or the Appropriation Committee. The",,,,,,,

Courts are not the forum in which the Government’s action of such nature could be sought to be criticized or restrained.,,,,,,,

According to him, the Constitution of India envisages that the executive is responsible to the legislature and other policy and action is subject to its",,,,,,,

scrutiny and that is in consonance with the WestMinister system of parliamentary democracy. It is made clear by Mr. Mukherjee that there is no,,,,,,,

complete embargo for the Court to interfere with such decision of the executive but the legislature is the appropriate forum to deal with the above,,,,,,,

aspect at the first instance. Reliance is placed by Mr. Mukherjee on the decisions of Laxman Moreshwar Mahurkar â€" Vs. â€" Balkrishna Jagannath,,,,,,,

Kinikar & Ors. reported in AIR 1961 Bombay 161, Bira Kishore Mohanty â€" Vs. â€" State of Orissa reported in AIR 1975 Orissa 8, K. N. Subba",,,,,,,

Reddy â€" Vs. â€" State of Karnataka & Ors. reported in AIR 1993 Karnataka 66 and M.S.M. Sharma â€" Vs. â€" Dr. Shree Krishna Sinha & Ors.,,,,,,,

reported in AIR 1960 SC 1186 in support of his above contentions.,,,,,,,

Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, it is submitted by Mr. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, learned Senior Advocate that the petitioners came to know",,,,,,,

about the decision of the Government in extending the benefit of the aforesaid grants from a newspaper reporting on September 10, 2018. The order",,,,,,,

by the Finance Department of the State of West Bengal and the Government Order were passed on September 12, 2018 and September 24, 2018.",,,,,,,

Therefore, at the time of announcement there was no decision on the part of the State Government to extend the benefit of grant for the purpose of",,,,,,,

assisting the Police through Volunteers in Safe Drive campaigns, maintaining sanitation and public safety in managing crowd during community festival",,,,,,,

through Clubs and Puja Committees but the same was an afterthought on the part of the Government and such subsequent Notification supports the,,,,,,,

case of the petitioners, that is, no public purpose is involved in extending the aforesaid grant to the Clubs or Puja Organizers. According to him, the",,,,,,,

violation of the Constitutional Mandate as appears from the provisions of Article 282 of the Constitution of India is crystal clear from the aforesaid,,,,,,,

course of action. Therefore, according to him, there is no bar and/or impediment on the part of the Court to interfere with such actions for adjudication",,,,,,,

of the validity of the aforesaid action on the part of the State Government.,,,,,,,

Reliance is placed by Mr. Bhattacharya on the decisions of Anindya Sundar Das â€"Vs. - Union of India reported in 2018 (2) CHN 164, Brajesh Jha",,,,,,,

â€" Vs. â€" Union of India & Ors. reported in 2017 SCC Online Calcutta 899 and Chaitanya Kumar & Ors. â€" Vs. State of Karnataka & Ors.,,,,,,,

reported in (1986) 2 SCC 594 in support of his above contentions. We have heard the learned Advocates appearing for the respective parties at length,,,,,,,

Sl,"H e a d of

Accounts",Earmark,"Budget

Amount","Re-App

Amount","Augment

Amount","Surrender

Amount","Current

Ceiling

1,"Hill-68-

2055-00-

109-024- 31-

02-V",--,0,0,"28,00,00,000",0,"28,00,00,000

U.O. No. : 1245,,,,,,,

U.O. Date : 12/09/2018 Sd/-,,,,,,,

Shri Amit Mitra,,,,,,,

(Minister-in-Charge)â€​,,,,,,,

It is also not in dispute that by the Government Order dated September 24, 2018, the Governor has been pleased to accord administrative approval and",,,,,,,

financial sanction of a sum of Rs.28 crores only for payment of ad-hoc grant at the rate of Rs.10,000/- only to each of 28,000 Clubs/Puja organizations",,,,,,,

under the jurisdiction of West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police respectively for the community Policing activities like assisting the Police through,,,,,,,

Volunteers in Safe Drive campaigns, maintaining sanitation and public safety in managing crowd during community festivals.",,,,,,,

The above Government Order is quoted below:,,,,,,,

“Government of West Bengal Home & Hill Affairs Department Nabanna, 325, Sarat Chatterjee Road, Howrah â€" 711102",,,,,,,

No.876(2) â€" Sanction/HP/BMC/14M-301/16,,,,,,,

Dated, Howrah, the 24th September, 2018",,,,,,,

From : Shri Goutam Ray,",,,,,,,

Deputy Secretary to Govt. of West Bengal.,,,,,,,

To: (I) Director General & Inspector General of Police, West Bengal.",,,,,,,

(ii) Commissioner of Police, Kolkata.",,,,,,,

Whereas community Policing is an important part of Police activity of strengthening the bond between the Police Authorities and 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 campaigns, maintaining sanitation and public safety in managing crowd during community",,,,,,,

festivals. As it is most convenient to do the above mentioned community development work through local institutions like Clubs and Puja Committees,",,,,,,,

the following grant is to be distributed through the West Bengal Police and the Kolkata Police.,,,,,,,

The undersigned is accordingly directed to state that the Governor has been pleased to accord administrative approval and financial sanction of a,,,,,,,

sum of Rs.28,00,00,000/- (Rupees twenty eight crore) only, for payment of ad-hoc grant @ Rs.10,000/- only to each of 28,000 Clubs/Puja",,,,,,,

organizations under the jurisdiction of West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police for the community Policing activities mentioned in Para-1 above.,,,,,,,

The amount sanctioned herein above will be met from the fund allotted to them under the head “2055-00-109-024-Grants to Community Policing,,,,,,,

Puja organizers-V-31-02-Other grantsâ€​ under Demand No.68 in the current year’s Budget Provision.,,,,,,,

The Governor has further been pleased to authorize the Superintendents of Police/Deputy Commissioners of Police (HQ) to draw the amount,,,,,,,

Rs.25,00,00,000/- [@ Rs.10,000/- X 25,000 Clubs/Puja Organizations] in case of West Bengal Police and Administrative Officer, Kolkata Police to",,,,,,,

draw the amount Rs.3,00,00,000/- [@ Rs.10,000/- X 3,000 clubs/Puja Organizations] in case of Kolkata Police, from different Treasuries/Kolkata Pay",,,,,,,

& Accounts Office-II respectively to disburse the same through Account Payee Cheques in favour of the Clubs/Puja Organizations for the purpose,,,,,,,

mentioned at para-1 above. Submission of Utilisation Certificates is a must.,,,,,,,

This order is issued with the concurrence of Finance Department vide their U.O. No. Group T/201-82019/0723 dated 17.09.2018 read with Gr.,,,,,,,

N.U.O. No.1245 dated 12.09.2018.,,,,,,,

All concerned are being informed.,,,,,,,

Sd/-,,,,,,,

Deputy Secretary,,,,,,,

to the Government of West Bengal “,,,,,,,

Now, in order to find out the provisions in the Budget, we find that Demand No.68 relates to Home and Hill Affairs Department, A - General Services",,,,,,,

â€" (d) Administrative Services under the major head of account: 2055 â€" Police. Under the said Major Head the detailed account No.2055-00-109,,,,,,,

relates to District Police. Under the aforesaid Major Head and Sub-Head the money is distributed under different detailed heads in the Budget upto,,,,,,,

No.2055-00-109-022.,,,,,,,

From the aforesaid order of the Finance Department, Group-N, Budget Branch dated September 12, 2018, it is not in dispute that a new detailed head,",,,,,,,

i.e. No. 024-Grants to Community Puja organizers-31-02 (other grants)-V has been incorporated under the aforesaid Major Head and Sub-head. It,,,,,,,

further appears from the Government Order dated September 24, 2018 that while the Governor has been pleased to accord administrative approval",,,,,,,

and financial sanction of a sum of Rs.28 crores only for payment of ad-hoc grant at the rate of Rs.10,000/- only to each of 28,000 Clubs/Puja",,,,,,,

organizations for the purposes indicated therein, it has been mentioned therein that the disbursement could be made through Account Payee Cheques",,,,,,,

in favour of Clubs/Puja Organizers for the aforesaid purposes and submission of utilization certificate is a must.,,,,,,,

Therefore, from the materials-on-record it appears that the aforesaid decision of the Government is a part of community Policing activity having",,,,,,,

provisions in the Budget under Demand No.68 as has been provided with a Major Head, Sub-head and Detailed Head bearing No. 2055-00-109-024-",,,,,,,

Grants to Community Puja organizers-31-02 (other grants)-V. The new Detailed Head being incorporated bearing No. 024-Grants to Community Puja,,,,,,,

organizers-31-02 (other grants)-V under the aforesaid Major Head and Sub-head.,,,,,,,

In the aforesaid facts and circumstances of this case, the settled principles of law does not permit us to interfere with the aforesaid action at this stage",,,,,,,

and after the expenditure has been incurred in the subsequent year, it is for the legislature to decide upon the propriety of the expenditure or",,,,,,,

otherwise. The Appropriation Account which would be placed in the subsequent year would cover the expenditure actually incurred by the,,,,,,,

Government at the first instance.,,,,,,,

In arriving at a conclusion, we cannot ignore that a substantial quantum of money has already been released in favour of the various Clubs and Puja",,,,,,,

organizers. However, we make it clear that while we arrive at a considered view that the legislature is the appropriate forum to decide upon the",,,,,,,

propriety of the aforesaid nature of expenditure at the first instance, it is open for the Court to interfere with the propriety of the action on the part of",,,,,,,

the Government at a later/appropriate stage, if the occasion so arises.",,,,,,,

With the discussions and observations made hereinabove, we are not inclined to entertain this writ application at this stage and the same stands",,,,,,,

disposed of accordingly. There will be, however, no order as to costs. Let a photostat plain copy of this order duly countersigned by the Assistant",,,,,,,

Registrar (Court) be handed over to the parties upon complying with all necessary formalities.,,,,,,,