Calcutta High Court on Monday gave the BJP the liberty to move a fresh petition against the Bengal government for disallowing its proposed ganatantro banchao yatra (save democracy march) even as a public interest litigation was filed seeking a high court order to the administration against such programmes.

Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty allowed the BJP to file the petition when its lawyer Saptangshu Basu sought the court’s nod to challenge the administration’s denial of permission for the march.

The court also assured the BJP that it would hear the plea on Tuesday.

The BJP had initially called the procession rathyatra and later named it ‘Save Democracy March’.

As directed by a division bench of the high court, three BJP leaders had met top government officials last week to discuss the modalities of the rathyatra.

“But on December 15, the senior state officials refused the BJP’s prayer and said the government could only allow the party to hold public meetings and not the rathyatra. Even for the meetings, the party would have to apply afresh for permission from district administrations,” Basu said on Monday, before asking the judge to allow his party to hold the programme according to the plan.

Justice Chakraborty said: “Then file a proper petition before the appropriate department. If the petition is filed in the meantime, the court will hear it tomorrow.”

Accordingly, the BJP filed a new plea in the court.

A few hours later, advocate Ramaprasad Sarkar filed a PIL seeking an order to the administration against allowing the BJP to conduct its rathyatra, citing concerns of disruption of communal harmony in Bengal.

The PIL is likely to be heard by the division bench headed by Chief Justice Debasish Kargupta on Friday, said a high court source.

The PIL alleged that the main aim of the BJP was to create “chaos” in Bengal, “perhaps the only secular state” in the country.

In the afternoon, BJP state unit chief Dilip Ghosh said his party had full faith in the judiciary.

“We have proposed three new dates, December 22, 24 and 26. We do not want to violate court orders and decided to stage protest rallies across our 38 organisational districts. We are also staging law-violation programmes wherever we are being denied permission to hold meetings,” said Ghosh.

Union textiles minister Smriti Irani said in Calcutta on Monday: “It seems the Bengal government is scared of seeing the voices of democracy come together to fight it.”