The order came when the Bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on the Durga Puja grants by the State government. File
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday (August 27, 2025) directed the West Bengal government to stop grants to clubs organising community Durga Puja in the State who have not submitted utilisation certificates for last year’s grant.
A Division Bench of Justice Sujoy Pal and Justice Smita Das De said that only the puja committees that have submitted the cost estimate certificate within the stipulated time in compliance with the court’s previous order will receive the grant.
The counsel appearing for the State government informed the Court that 2,876 puja committees in Kolkata have submitted utilisation reports on time and only three of the remaining 41,795 committees spread across the districts have not submitted their utilisation certificate. These three clubs are all located under the jurisdiction of Siliguri Police Commissionerate.
The order came when the Bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on the Durga Puja grants by the State government.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a grant of ₹1 lakh 10 thousand each to the State’s Durga Puja committees, increasing it from ₹85,000 from last year.
The other incentives to the Durga Puja organisers include an 80% rebate on the electricity bill to the clubs organising Puja, and said that all government.
The Durga Puja honorarium to community pujas was introduced by Ms. Banerjee in 2018. In seven years, the grant has increased by 11 times.
The Opposition parties, particularly the Left parties, have criticised the move, saying that the move was aimed at mixing religion with politics and misuse of public funds. The move has been challenged before Calcutta High Court on several occasions.
Published – August 27, 2025 07:56 pm IST
