Fadnavis latches on to SC, HC verdicts to target MVA govt
Senior BJP leader DevendraFadnavis said the verdicts given on Friday by the SupremeCourt as well as the Bombay High Court over the recentdevelopments in Maharashtra were a “tight slap” to the MahaVikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
Although Fadnavis did not specify which verdicts hewas talking about, he was apparently referring to the SupremeCourts decision to extend journalist Arnab Goswamis interimbail and the Bombay High Courts observation that the actionof Mumbai civic bodys demolishing part of actor KanganaRanauts bungalow in Mumbai was illegal and smacks of malafideintentions.
In a series of tweets in Marathi, Fadnavis said, “Theverdicts of two courts in the country given on the same day ina way sum up the performance of the government in the last oneyear. But will they now call the SC and the HC asMaharashtra-drohi (anti-Maharashtra)?” “The verdicts of the SC and the HC over some of theincidents that occurred in Maharashtra in the recent past dueto the rulers blinded by power, were a tight slap to thegovernment. They should realise that every voice against thegovernment cannot be crushed like this,” he added.
“The state government forgot that we have a democracyin the country. If the courts have to remind this governmentthat criminal procedure code is for the protection of thepeople and not for their harassment, then it gives rise to aquestion whether they are violating the oath they had taken atthe time of swearing-in,” the former Maharashtra chiefminister said.
When contacted over the courts decisions, Shiv Senachief spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said, “Ihave come to know about these decisions through media. I needto study them thoroughly before commenting over it. I needsome time.” The Supreme Court on Friday said the interim bail tojournalist Arnab Goswami and two others in an abetment tosuicide case will continue till the Bombay High Court disposesof their plea, and stated that the judiciary should ensurecriminal law does not become a weapon for selectiveharassment.
The accused were arrested by Alibaug police inMaharashtras Raigad district on November 4 in connection withthe suicide of architect-interior designer Anvay Naik and hismother in 2018 over alleged non-payment of dues by companiesof the accused. Goswami walked out of Taloja jail on November11 after the SC granted interim bail to him.
The Bombay High Court on Friday declared theBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC) action ofdemolishing part ofRanauts bungalow here as illegal and saidit smacks of malafide intentions.
The court was presiding over a petition filed byRanaut, seeking that the partial demolition of her Pali Hillbungalow carried out by the Shiv Sena-controlled BMC onSeptember 9 be declared illegal.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)