HC asks Bengal govt to submit affidavit on grant utilisation by Durga Puja committees

Kolkata, Aug 25 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court on Monday asked the West Bengal government to file an affidavit by August 27 giving details about the number of Durga Puja organisers who have submitted utilisation certificates about the financial grant given by the state for the festival in previous years.

A division bench of Justices Sujoy Paul and Smita Das De wanted to know if, as per previous orders, the organisers had submitted details regarding the use of the grant money and whether any committees had not filed the certificates in the past and were still receiving funds.

"Why would those not having submitted expenditure details be given the grants again?" it said.

Advocate General Kishore Dutta submitted that since no court had objected to the Durga Puja grants on past occasions, the HC could hear the issue after the festival, but the bench countered, "What will be the relevance of the case after the Durga Puja?" "If the HC intends to take steps on this matter, that has to be taken before the pujas," the judges said.

Dutta further contended during the hearing that in March 2023, the HC was informed by the state about the number of puja committees that had not submitted the certificates.

The AG assured that the government will give a detailed response in the next hearing and that the state will inform about the action taken against any club or committee which had not submitted the accounts.

The HC recalled having directed recipients of Durga Puja grants to submit detailed utilisation accounts several times in the past years.

The bench was hearing a PIL challenging the West Bengal government's August 1 decision to hike the annual Durga Puja grant to Rs 1.10 lakh, which is given to over 40,000 puja committees in the state.

The PIL, filed by a citizen, Sourav Dutta, stated that many of the clubs did not submit the certificate of the grant and questioned how much from the state exchequer can be used for Durga Puja organisations by clubs.

The matter will be heard again on Wednesday.

The state government began providing financial assistance to the puja committees in 2018.

While in 2018 the grant was Rs 10,000, in 2019, it was increased to Rs 25,000. Afterwards, it went up every year. From Rs 85,000 last year, the amount was raised to Rs 1.10 lakh this year. PTI SUS RG