Supreme Court refuses to stay Mamata Banerjee's decision to offer grants to Durga Puja committees

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal on a plea challenging its decision to offer grants to puja committees for Durga Puja in the state.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta, however, refused to stay the decision of the government to grant funds to Durga Puja committees. 

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The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday had refused to accept the PIL filed against the government's decision and had said that the matter can be taken up after the next Budget.

Arguing against the plea, the state government had said that the decision to give grants to puja committees was an executive one and that the High Court cannot interfere in it.

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In September, Mamata Banerjee had announced the decision to give a grant of Rs 10,000 each to the 28,000 puja committees across the state.

The petitioner had claimed that the giving of grants violated the secular structure of the Constitution.