The Bombay High Court yesterday issued notices to Maharashtra government and MNS chief Raj Thackeray on a petition asking to register a case against Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for allegedly instigating their party workers to engage in rioting.
The petition filed by activist Hemant Patil, has also sought direction to the government to recover cost of damage caused to public property last month.
u00a0A division bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and A P Bhangale yesterday issued notices to all the respondents in the petition and posted the matter for hearing on April 25.
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The two leaders had recently taken potshots at each other through public platforms that outraged their party workers, following which they engaged in rioting at several parts of the state.
“In various districts across the state, party workers of MNS and NCP have been indulging in violent activities and disturbing peace and harmony of the society. The MNS chief used vulgar and abusive words against various other political leaders like Sushil Kumar Shinde and Sharad Pawar,” the petition said.
Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, had recently attacked Thackeray for mimicking political leaders during a visit to Kolhapur, saying it would only “entertain” people and not solve state’s problems like drought. Thackeray retaliated by accusing Pawar, who headed the water resources ministry between 1999 and 2009, of being responsible for water scarcity despite huge spending on irrigation projects.
Furious over Thackeray’s accusation against their leader, NCP workers hurled stones at the MNS leader’s convoy at Bhingar in Ahmednagar district on February 26, triggering a spate of incidents of violence and arson in the city, Pune and Thane.u00a0
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