Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and executive president Uddhav Thackeray, MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Congress leader Narayan Rane can breathe easy.
The Maharashtra government is not willing to prosecute them for the alleged vandalism of their party workers, resulting in damage to property and financial losses.
An affidavit filed by Chandra Iyengar, additional chief secretary, in the Bombay high court said “…none of the four incidents (see on p20) could justify the arrest of the top leaders of the three political parties, whose supporters/workers/activists have indulged in destruction and damage to property.”
According to Iyengar, the investigations conducted made it clear that “the incidents were not part of any criminal conspiracy hatched by or with the involvement of the top political leaders, but the same was done/indulged in by persons involving themselves.”
On February 3, 2010, the government was directed by the court to file an affidavit saying what action they proposed to take against the top leaders of these parties for the vandalism of their workers.
Niranjan Pandit, the state’s counsel, told the court on Thursday: “The incidents pointed out (earlier) by the court do not show involvement of top party leaders. We are taking action against the local leaders who have been found to be involved in these vandalisms.”
His clincher: “…If, for every small incident, top leaders are to be arrested, then most leaders will end up being in jail,” Pandit told the court.
The court was informed that the government had booked about 140 persons in four cases of vandalism registered in January and February, 2009, out of which 125 had been charge-sheeted and trials were pending against them.
Pandit told the court that the state government was implementing the Supreme Court’s guidelines laid down under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
“As per the guidelines, it is for the high court to appoint a claims commissioner in case of mass destruction of properties. Till the office of claims commissioner is set up, we are taking independent action,” Pandit told the court.
Hearing the submissions made by the state, a division bench of chief justice Anil Dave and justice SC Dharmadhikari remarked: “Every time this matter gets adjourned and there are such instances registered. Ransacking goes on continuously.” The court also made pointed references to the recent incidents of ransacking of theatres in Maharashtra (when Shah Rukh Khan starrer My Name is Khan was released last week.)
Senior counsel and amicus curiae (friend of the court) Janak Dwarkadas said there was an urgent need to legislate a new law to prevent such incidents in future.
Dwarkadas has also suggested that the machinery should establish a claims commissioner, who shall have the authority to estimate damages and calculate liabilities. The suggestions include allowing the use of video recordings as evidence in nailing such vandalism.
Dwarkadas pointed out that until now the government had been taking action in such incidents under the Bombay Police Act, which was a toothless tiger. “Under these provisions, damages are recovered from the residents of the area in which vandalism is carried out in a manner of tax,” Dwarkadas told the court.
The court has now directed the government to inform it what steps it had taken to appoint the claims commissioner. “You need to appoint a support staff and also (give) basic infrastructure to these officers,” remarked the court. The government has been given seven weeks’ time to file its affidavit.
The high court was hearing a suo motu petition regarding political vandalism. The court had, earlier this year, converted a letter written by retired IPS officer and former Mumbai police commissioner Julio Ribeiro into a public interest litigation.
Earlier, the government had informed the high court that it had recovered Rs 57,000 from 10 activists of the MNS students’ wing for damaging the registrar’s office at Mumbai University in January this year.
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