The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) seeking protection against the alleged attempt by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the police to demolish its temporary bookstall near Jadavpur Coffee House in south Kolkata, according to Live Law.

Justice Partha Pratim Roy held that a party approaching the court for protection against the removal of a stall must first establish that it had obtained the requisite permission. 'In view of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Division Bench in MAT 1881 of 2026, a person who approaches the Court will have to be first established whether the said party has permission for erecting a stall or not,' the court observed, as reported by Live Law. Since no such permission had been granted in this case, the court held the party was not entitled to the relief sought and dismissed the petition.

In its petition, the CPI(M)'s Jadavpur 1 Area Committee alleged that municipal officials, accompanied by a large police contingent and a bulldozer, attempted to remove its temporary bookstall on October 17 at around 6:30 pm. The party said it has organised the bookstall in front of Jadavpur Coffee House during Durga Puja for the past 49 years, and that for 2026 it proposed to run the stall from October 13 to October 22, measuring 16 feet by 20 feet. According to the petition, the party applied to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for permission on September 19, informed the Officer-in-Charge of Jadavpur Police Station, and deposited Rs 3,208 with the municipal corporation for the temporary installation. The court, however, noted that the payment receipt had been accepted subject to police permission, and that no permission had ultimately been granted.

Justice Roy relied on an earlier Division Bench ruling in a separate CPI(M) bookstall dispute from the Bongaon police district, in which the bench had said police should check whether permission had been granted for a stall and act to remove it if no permission had been sought and granted.

In a related development the same day, the same vacation bench also dismissed a separate petition by the CPI(M)'s Jadavpur area committee seeking compensation for the alleged vandalism of party bookstalls near Durga Puja pandals, IANS reported. The court noted that a similar petition was already pending before a division bench headed by Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge, which is set to hear the matter in January next year, and held that a separate hearing by the vacation bench was not needed.

Bookstalls run by Left parties have been at the centre of a political row in West Bengal this Durga Puja, with the CPI(M) alleging that stalls were vandalised at several places, including two in Jadavpur on the night of Saptami — allegations the ruling side disputes. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday said Left parties should sell books from their offices instead of setting up stalls during Durga Puja, PTI reported.

Sources: Live Law, IANS, PTI.