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"Kolkata Book Fair will not be allowed on Maidan"

Antara Das

The ruling is seen as a major victory for environmentalists

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has ruled that the Kolkata Book Fair - one of the largest in the world and attended by millions of book lovers - will not be allowed on the Maidan as it violated environmental laws.

Responding to a public interest litigation (PIL) a division bench of the High Court consisting of Acting Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice K.K. Prasad directed the organisers - the Publishers and Book Sellers Guild - to restore the Maidan within seven days to its original state and return it to the Army.

Work on setting up stalls for the fair had begun a few days ago but was subsequently put on hold following a High Court directive on January 25.

Monday's ruling is being seen as a major victory for environmentalists who have maintained that holding the fair at the patch of green on the Maidan, considered the lungs of the metropolis, leads to environmental degradation.

In its ruling the bench also reprimanded the local Army authorities, custodians of the Maidan, for giving permission to the Guild to hold the Book Fair on the Maidan.

The PIL had challenged the permission accorded by the Local Military Authority to the organisers to hold the fair on the Maidan and had also questioned the Army's deviation from its earlier stand that fairs should not be allowed there.

The High Court also declared that the permission granted by the other authorities violated the rules.

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"Kolkata Book Fair will not be allowed on Maidan"

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