Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, April 20: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been launched in the Bombay High Court, requesting that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, state home minister Dilip Walse Patil, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, and others be held in contempt of court for allegedly making anti-judicial statements.
The Indian Bar Association filed a petition alleging that respondents in ministerial positions have made various ‘false, scandalous, and disrespectful’ claims against the High Court judges and the entire judicial system.
“This has been done to undermine the majesty and dignity of the court and to shake the faith of the common man towards judiciary, which is the grossest contempt of the court,” the plea said.
Rashmi Thackeray, editor of ‘Saamana’ newspaper (Shiv Sena mouthpiece) and wife of Uddhav Thackeray, and Vivek Kadam, the publication’s printer and publisher, have also been named in the PIL. The petition is scheduled for hearing on April 26.
The PIL cited other instances in which statements were allegedly made against the judiciary, including Raut’s latest remark after the high court gave BJP leader Kirit Somaiya interim protection from arrest in a cheating case.
Following the order, Raut allegedly gave interviews and made scandalous claims, according to the plea, that judges of courts, particularly the Bombay High Court, are awarding relief to BJP members while refusing to grant relief to their parties’ accused ministers.
