A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran questioned petitioner Sunil Shukla — national president of the Uttar Bhartiya Vikas Sena — on why he hadn’t approached the high court with his grievances. “Is the Bombay High Court on vacation?” the CJI asked, leading Shukla’s lawyer to withdraw the plea
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray. File Pic
The Supreme Court on Monday directed a petitioner to approach the Bombay High Court with his plea accusing Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray of hate speech and inciting violence against the north Indian community.
A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran questioned petitioner Sunil Shukla — national president of the Uttar Bhartiya Vikas Sena — on why he hadn’t approached the high court with his grievances.
“Is the Bombay High Court on vacation?” the CJI asked, leading Shukla’s lawyer to withdraw the plea, according to the news agency PTI.
The apex court bench did not comment on the merits of the case but permitted the petitioner to withdraw the plea and move the appropriate high court.
Shukla had alleged that the Maharashtra government and police failed to act on his repeated requests to file criminal cases against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers, accusing them of violence, threats, and harassment against him.
His advocacy for the rights of North Indians had made him a target for threats, harassment, and physical intimidation by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and its affiliated groups, the plea added, as per the news agency PTI.
In his petition, Sunil Shukla alleged that during a Gudi Padwa rally on March 30, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray delivered an inflammatory speech inciting violence against North Indians for speaking Hindi. The speech, which was broadcast publicly, allegedly triggered attacks on Hindi-speaking workers at several locations in Mumbai, including Powai and D-Mart in Versova.
Shukla further claimed that even before the speech, he had received multiple threats, including a disturbing message on Twitter that openly called for his murder, along with over 100 anonymous calls threatening his life. On October 6, 2024, around 30 individuals allegedly linked to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena attempted to ransack the office of his political party, according to the news agency PTI.
Despite submitting several written complaints to the Maharashtra chief minister, director general of police, police commissioner and the Election Commission of India, Shukla said no FIR has been filed so far, according to news agency PTI.
(With inputs from news agency PTI)
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