PIL in Calcutta HC against renaming Kolkata Port Trust after Syama Prasad Mukherjee
Jun 17, 2020
New Delhi [India], June 17 : A public interest litigation (PIL) has been moved in Calcutta High Court against renaming of Kolkata Port Trust as Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port, claiming that that decision has resulted in "demeaning" freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
The PIL, filed by social worker Naren Chattopadhyay through advocate Uday Sankar Chattopadhyay on Tuesday, sought directions to prohibit the respondents from changing the name of Kolkata Port Trust to Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port Trust.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in January announced the renaming of Kolkata Port Trust after Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee at a function to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations of the port trust, following which a decision for the same 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 their 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 Mukherjee is, no doubt, an eminent figure in Indian political history and various institutions and facilities should be named after him.
"But unfortunately Kolkata Port Trust has two docks named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as Netaji Subhas Docks," it said.
"Renaming Kolkata Port Trust as Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port Trust has resulted in demeaning Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at a lower position to that of Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee, which has hurt the sentiments of the petitioner and the members of the All India Forward Bloc," the plea added.
Chattopadhyay, in his plea, said 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.
