High Court summons case against state over priest allowance

A case has been filed in the Calcutta High Court against the state government's decision to provide grants and priest allowances to Durgapuja clubs. A division bench of Justice Sanjeev Banerjee and Justice Arijit Banerjee will hear the two cases together on Wednesday. Earlier, the court directed to submit an affidavit in view of the decision to pay the priest's allowance. The affidavit should state on what basis the state government has announced the decision to pay the priest allowance. In a secular country like India, the government cannot give any grant in the name of religion. This is unconstitutional. Durgapur Situ leader Sourav Dutt filed a public interest litigation in the Calcutta High Court over the allegation. His lawyer, Shamim Ahmed, said the government-funded Durga Puja grant and priest's allowance were both unconstitutional. No government in a secular state can do this. Earlier in 2016, a similar case was filed in the High Court against the government grant for Durga Puja. It was then informed by the state government that the money was being given to the clubs under the 'Safe Drive Save Life Project' not on the occasion of Durga Puja but to increase the awareness of the people. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court. The apex court directed the clubs to pay the money through the police. According to Sourav Dutt, no government can pay for religion in this way. Besides, the government should have kept the epidemic situation in mind. Earlier, a case was also filed against the payment of imam allowance like priest allowance. After that case, the state government decided to pay the allowance to the imams through the waqf board.