A report in Thursday’s Metro (see grab on right) on the civic body’s largesse for Book Fair 2008 — a profit-driven venture of a private body — was produced before Calcutta High Court.

The report stated that the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) is spending Rs 70 lakh of public money to doll up Park Circus Maidan for the fair. In return, the civic body is getting only Rs 2.46 lakh from the organisers.

Appearing for the Voice of People, which has been pleading for shifting the fair from Park Circus Maidan, Sardar Amjad Ali and Jayanta N. Chatterjee read out the report before the division bench of Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose. A copy of Thursday’s The Telegraph was also placed before the bench.

The report was mentioned during the hearing of two petitions — of the Voice of People and Darga Road Citizens’ Forum. The hearing will continue on Friday.

Advocate-general Balai Ray and Shaktinath Mukherjee, who appeared for the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the organisers of the fair, made their submissions during the day.

The petitioners’ lawyers raised the following issues:

nWhether the state government, West Bengal Pollution Control Board and the CMC had conducted a detailed probe before allowing the Guild to hold the fair on Park Circus Maidan

nWhether the mayor had held a mayoral council meeting before allowing the fair and whether the government had approved the fair under the CMC Act

nWhether the CMC and the government can allow any one to hold a fair in a park (The lawyers cited a Supreme Court order that had imposed certain curbs on holding fairs in parks).

Jayanta Mitra, appearing for the civic body, is supposed to answer the questions on Friday.

Advocate-general Ray said: “As far as Book Fair is concerned, the government is only an approving authority. The government has allowed the fair as it is an international cultural event.”

Guild counsel Shaktinath Mukherjee said: “The petitioners’ fear of snarls and increased pollution during the fair are baseless. Since the visitors are mostly middle-class people and school children, there is very little chance of snarls.”

He also claimed that the Guild is a non-profit group. “The fair is held to boost the business of the publishers.”