Calcutta HC seeks Centre's response on plea against decision to rename Kolkata Port Trust
Sep 08, 2020
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], September 8 : The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday sought the response of the Central government on public interest litigation (PIL) against the decision to change the name of Calcutta Port Trust to Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust.
A bench of Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed the Centre to file an affidavit on the PIL within three weeks stating the reason for changing the name. The PIL has been filed by Forward Bloc leader Naren Chattopadhyay.
The PIL, filed through advocate Uday Sankar Chattopadhyay, sought directions to prohibit the respondents from changing the name of Kolkata Port Trust to Syama Prasad Mookerjee Trust contending that two docks at the port are named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in January announced the renaming of Kolkata Port Trust after Syama Prasad Mookerjee at a function to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations of the port trust, after which a decision for it was approved by the Union Cabinet.
The plea sought directions to authorities concerned to cancel the notification, if any, whereby Kolkata Port Trust has been renamed and, in case, there is a change of name, it should be reverted back to the previous name.
It said that the official website of the port trust shows that the name still remains as Kolkata Port Trust, adding that it is indicative of the fact that the name change is yet to occur. The plea said that Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee is, no doubt, an eminent figure in Indian political history and various institutions and facilities should be named after him.
"Renaming Kolkata Port Trust as Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust has resulted in demeaning Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at a lower position to that of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, which has hurt the sentiments of the petitioner and the members of the All India Forward Bloc," it added.
Chattopadhyay said in the plea that there should be no comparison made between eminent figures and one should not be placed at a higher pedestal than the others as the same would needlessly hurt the sentiments of many people.
The plea said that the Kolkata Port Trust should either retain its name or be renamed after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in his honour.
