Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, Sept 21: The Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, filed a petition with the Bombay High Court on Wednesday asking for permission to hold its yearly Dussehra gathering in Shivaji Park in the heart of Mumbai.
The petitioner’s attorney, Joel Carlos, brought up the issue in front of the justices RD Dhanuka and Kamal Khata. Carlos said that the BMC had no justification for refusing approval and that a decision on the application needed to be made right now.
The case was then deemed urgent by the bench of Justices RD Dhanuka and Kamal Khata, and a hearing was set for September 22.
Notably, a Dussehra rally was held in 1966, when the Shiv Sena was first organised as a political party, according to the argument made by “Shiv Sena, a registered political party” and its secretary, Anil Desai.
A public assembly or rally should be held to enlighten the people of Maharashtra about the party’s future objectives and programmes, the request stated, citing the time and life of the party’s founder, Bal Thackeray. Therefore, on October 20, 1966, the Shiv Sena’s inaugural Dussehra Melawa was organised at Dadar Shivaji Park on the auspicious day of Dussehra/Vijayadashami.
Since that time, the party has conducted an annual gathering at Shivaji Park. The party was established in 1989, and even while the debate over whether or not Shivaji Park should be used for such gatherings raged, the Bombay High Court had given the party permission to stage the protest from 2015 to 2019.
