The BJP’s Rath Yatra hit the judicial roadblock with the Calcutta High Court on Thursday refusing permission on purely security and law and order grounds to the much-touted saffron rally to be flagged off by party president Amit Shah on December 7 from North Bengal district of Coochbehar.

In a politically crippling order for the saffron strategists, the single bench of Justice Tapabrato Chakrabarty asked BJP’s senior counsel Anindya Mitra as to who would take responsibility if any untoward incident happened and wondered why the petitioners had approached the court so late when it was almost impossible to assess the law and order scenario in the given political situation.

“The Court apparently gave his order against the backdrop of the existing situation which could take communal turn like in the past,” said one of the counsels for the State Arka Nag adding the Court said that the given the aggressive mood in all the sides concerned who would be responsible if there were clashes causing loss of lives and property.

The BJP had earlier petitioned the Court seeking hearing on an urgent basis for the permission of the Yatra as the offices of Home Secretary, Director General of Police or district SPs had failed to respond to its letters seeking permission. The Court however wondered why the party had approached it so late when the cause of action arose fortnights ago.

With the Court fixing the next date of hearing on January 9 when the District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police — of all the 41 constituencies through which the saffron Rath would pass — would return with their individual reports the fate of the entire series of three-pronged Yatras to begin from Coochbehar, Ganga Sagar and Birbhum seemed sealed if the order was not vacated by the higher courts.

While the BJP leadership said they would prefer an appeal and acted accordingly Chief Justice Debashis Kar Gupta refused to hear an appeal abruptly and directed the party to mention the matter at 10.30 am on Friday. The Yatra if it takes off is scheduled to start at 12 noon, BJP State president Dilip Ghosh said.

Refusing to budge Ghosh said “the programme is on as we cannot end it abruptly because crores of rupees have been spent and thousands of our supporters have been mobilized” adding in the same breath that his party “will abide by the court verdict but before that our party will prefer an appeal before the Division Bench and if need be in the Supreme Court.”

The BJP’s Yatras were scheduled to kick start — in the name of “save democracy” — from Coochbehar on December 7, Ganga Sagar on December 9 and Birbhum on December 14. All the Yatras were to be inaugurated by party president Amit Shah and would be addressed by top party leaders like UP and Assam Chief Ministers Yogi Adityanath and Sarbananda Sonowal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also likely to address four rallies at Siliguri, Durgapur, Malda and Birbhum during the Yatra.

Reacting to the Thursday’s developments the national leadership of the BJP said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was running a “dictatorship” in Bengal. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said Banerjee, also the president of the Trinamool Congress, was busy playing “politics of appeasement,” which explained her government’s blocking of previous rallies by Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

“She is running a dictatorship, he alleged,” he said adding “we are often forced to move court for seeking permission. Courts reprimand the State government every time, but she does not learn her lessons because she is busy with politics of appeasement.”

Meanwhile, situations took an ugly turn in Coochbehar where alleged Trinamool Congress supporters pelted stones at Dilip Ghosh’s cavalcade breaking the windowpanes of his car, the BJP State president alleged.

A group of protesters carrying black flag and shouting “go back” slogans attacked the cavalcade Ghosh alleged saying “I have been attacked on nine occasions. This is how Mamata Banerjee’s democracy works in Bengal. This is the reason why we have decided to take out the Yatra to “save democracy.”

He said the rally to be addressed by Shah was on despite the Court order as the “Court has not said anything about the meeting.” He added the party was not immediately cancelling the Yatra and would wait for the Division Bench verdict on Friday. “If need be we will move the Supreme Court as we constitution grants us that right to take out rallies and organize meetings.”