The Calcutta High Court has directed the police not to permit a club to organise Durga Puja at the common area of a G+3 residential building in Kolkata in the absence of permission from the Flat Owners Association or individual flat owners.

Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya was hearing a writ petition filed by five flat owners of a residential building at Raja Rammohan Sarani, Kolkata, opposing the proposed organisation of Durga Puja by Sarad Sangha club at the common area of the premises.

The petitioners submitted that the Flat Owners Association had not granted permission to the club to organise the Puja at the premises in 2026. They expressed apprehension that the club might nevertheless forcibly organise the festivities.

The club, on the other hand, submitted that it had been organising Durga Puja at the premises for a long period and that, even after construction of the G+3 building, it continued to organise the Puja at the car parking space with the permission of the erstwhile landowner.

The State informed the Court that, as on the date of hearing, no pandal had been erected at the premises.

The Court noted that the petitioners, being flat owners of the premises, had a right to express their views regarding the organisation of Durga Puja within the property. It also noted that a complaint had been lodged by the Flat Owners Association before the Officer-in-Charge of Muchipara Police Station, but no effective steps had allegedly been taken.

In this context, the Court relied on a Division Bench decision in M/S Bibhuti Bhusan Dutt Estates Pvt. Ltd. v. State of West Bengal & Ors., in which it was held that a citizen cannot be prevented from enjoying immovable property or its usufruct on the basis of a claim to the property that had not been substantiated.

Justice Bhattacharyya observed that although the club was represented before the Court, it had failed to demonstrate any right to organise Durga Puja at the common area of the premises in the absence of permission from the Flat Owners Association or individual flat owners.

The Court accordingly directed the Officer-in-Charge of Muchipara Police Station not to permit the club to organise Durga Puja at the premises in the absence of such permission.

Case: SRI KALLOL KANTI SAHA AND OTHERS VS. THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND OTHERS

Case No: W.P.A. 24981 OF 2026