High Court says photos show destruction caused by Maratha protesters; Jarange Patil’s counsel claims photographs are old, unrelated visuals
‘When lakhs of people gather, there will always be stray incidents,’ argued senior advocate Satish Maneshinde, representing Manoj Jarange Patil. PIC/SHADAB KHAN
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of the petitions related to the recent Maratha morcha for four weeks, while remarking that photographs presented before the bench clearly indicated large-scale damage to public property during the agitation.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice Chandrashekhar, expressed concern that despite appeals for peaceful demonstrations, public property worth crores appeared to have been destroyed during the agitation. “Looking at these photographs, it is apparent that there has been massive damage. Such agitations cannot come at the cost of law and order or the common citizen,” the court noted.
Appearing for Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil, senior advocate Satish Maneshinde argued that the matter was being exaggerated through selective visuals. “There are already criminal cases registered regarding the incidents of damage. Some of the photos presented before this court are not from the recent protest at all; they are old images being circulated again,” Maneshinde submitted, urging the bench to avoid drawing conclusions without proper verification.
He further stated that Jarange Patil had repeatedly appealed to his supporters to maintain peace and refrain from damaging property. “When lakhs of people gather, there will always be stray incidents. But it is incorrect to paint the entire protest as violent. The intention was never to disrupt public life,” Maneshinde said.
In contrast, the advocate representing activist Virendra Pawar distanced his client from any disruption, stressing that their group had fully cooperated with the government and administration. “We have been coordinating with officials at every stage. If the government had taken its decision five days earlier, we would not even have had to approach this court. The delay on the part of authorities is what forced us into litigation,” Pawar’s lawyer advocate Abhijeet Patil, stated.
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