The main legal point established in the judgment is the need to balance the right to hold peaceful assembly with the right of the public to carry on with normal life and activities, and the imposition of reasonable restrictions in the interest of law and order and the general public.

Arijit Banerjee, J.

1. In these two writ petitions, filed as Public Interest Litigations (in short ‘the PILs’), the subject matter and the prayers are similar. Hence, the two writ petitions are taken up for hearing and disposal together.

2. In WP No. 568 of 2015 the main prayer is for issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent authorities not to issue permission allowing any political party or any authority to block the roads or streets completely for any assembly or meeting or rally or procession. In WP No. 1130 of 2015, the main prayer is for issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent authorities not to allow the political parties/associations to hold political rallies during working days in the vicinity of the city of Calcutta since the same paralyses the free movement of public at large.

3. Learned Counsel for the petitioners submitted that rallies/meetings/processions are organized by political parties by completely blocking several important roads/streets thereby restricting the movement of the public at large. Blockage of arterial roads causes disruption of essential services like fire brigade, ambulance, etc. He submitted that the political parties are able to paralyse life in this manner because of the permission granted by the State authorities and/or inaction on their part to ensure that normal life of the public in general is not impeded by the political meetings/rallies/processions.

4. It was submitted that the right to free movement and the right to livelihood by doing business and attending work is a constitutional right of the citizens and the State authorities must protect such right. The State authorities are duty bound to ensure free movement of the public in and around the city of Calcutta during such meetings/rallies/processions.

5. Learned Counsel for the State respondents submitted that all necessary precautions are taken by the administration to ensure that normal lives of the people are not disrupted in any manner by the political meetings/rallies/processions. Learned Counsel placed before us two affidavits affirmed on behalf of the State. The first affidavit was affirmed by one Jayanta Kumar Halder describing himself as the Dy. Secretary. The said affidavit which was affirmed on 11 January, 2017 is not very relevant since the same deals with strikes/bandhs called by political parties. The other affidavit affirmed on 1 August, 2017 by one Anujit Biswas describing himself as the Dy. Superintendent of Police, West Bengal, gives some indication of the measures taken by the administration to ensure normalcy of public life on the days of political meetings/rallies/processions. In the said affidavit it is, inter alia, stated as follows:-

(i) On the days of political rallies/processions/meetings, the main object of the police administration is proper traffic management and crowd control to ensure that inconvenience to public is minimized and to ensure maintenance of peace and law and order.

(ii) Upon receiving advance information of political processions etc., elaborate police arrangement is made after taking into confidence all stake holders and after due consideration of inputs from the intelligence branch, giving priority to public safety and smooth flow of traffic.

(iii) To combat any untoward situation a good number of police personnel (including lady personnel) are deployed on the routes of rallies/processions/meetings or at and around the venue of the meeting under the supervision of senior officers of the Department.

(iv) In order to ensure minimum disruption to traffic the following steps are taken:-

(a) An elaborate plan is prepared regarding parking of vehicles carrying the supporters of the concerned political party as far as possible from the busy areas and the main roads so that they do not clog the main thoroughfares and disrupt movement of traffic.

(b) It is a fact that while the rally/procession is in progress some parts of the approaching