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Kolkata Book Fair cancelled: organisers

Special Correspondent

Kolkata: The Kolkata Book Fair — one of the largest in the world — will not be held this year, its organiser, the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, has decided.

It was to have been the 33rd international Kolkata Book Fair, but is not being held as no suitable venue could be found, the Guild’s general secretary, Tridib Chattopadhyay, told The Hindu here on Thursday.

“This is for the first time in the history of the Kolkata Book Fair that such a step had to be taken,” he said, blaming the State government and the civic authorities for not being able to come up with “a suitable site” for the fair.

A move is on, however, to hold an alternative book fair under the auspices of a separate organisation in the city.

The Calcutta High Court ruled on Monday that the fair could not be allowed at the Park Circus maidan — the venue decided on earlier by the authorities concerned. The ruling came following the hearing on a public interest litigation petition that challenged the holding of the fair on grounds of environment, among other issues.

Unfortunate: Somnath

The High Court has overstepped its jurisdiction in ruling that the book fair cannot not be held at the venue decided upon, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said here.

“It is unfortunate,” he said at an interactive session organised by the Kolkata Press Club. “Who decides what is [in] public interest? Elected representatives or those not accountable to the people?” he said, referring to the Public Interest Litigation petition that prompted the ruling.

While the court had the right to determine the legality of issues and could engage in judicial review, there were doubts even among judges about the kind of judicial activism practised by courts, he said.

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