Bombay HC Grants Permission For BJP MLA T Raja Singh’s Rally But With THIS Condition

The Bombay High Court directed the Mira Road police on February 23 to provide permission to hold a gathering on February 25 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, which will be addressed by BJP Telangana MLA T Raja Singh Thakur.

In doing so, the HC invalidated and set aside orders issued by police on February 19 and 20 that denied the organisers permission to hold the event. The judge also ordered police to videotape the full procession and speeches at the congregation/rally.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Shivkumar G Dige was hearing a petition from one Naresh Ramu Nile seeking to overturn orders issued by Mira Road and Kashmira Road police. The petitioner requested permission for himself and the BJP leader to conduct a process and address the crowd.

Advocate Suresh Kulkarni for the petitioner contended that, while multiple complaints were filed against the BJP leader in Telangana and Maharashtra for alleged hate speech, no case was filed against him following the Supreme Court’s January 17 ruling in the hate speech case.

Kulkarni claimed that earlier this month, the HC’s Aurangabad bench overturned an order from authorities that had refused permission for the gathering in Chopda city, Jalgaon district, and had instructed police to issue permission while applying required restrictions. He went on to say that the BJP leader promised not to use hate speech during the February 21 event and kept his word.

Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar for the state government rejected the appeal, claiming that there was a fear of an unpleasant incident during the parade or at the Mira Road protest. He noted that on January 22, when the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha event was held in Ayodhya, there was violence in the Mira-Bhayander area, hence the police’s refusal to attend the February 25 rally was appropriate owing to concerns about law and order issues between the two sects.

Venegaonkar went on to say that multiple charges had been filed against the BJP leader for giving hate speeches in other states, including Maharashtra, and that he was expected to do so again at the event in question, therefore the rejection of permission was justifiable.

However, the petitioner stated that the rally will be conducted almost 1.9 kilometres away from the area where the violence occurred, and that the BJP leader will comply with all of the terms and conditions set by authorities, including the modification of route for the procession. Advocate Kulkarni said that the police should not change the starting point (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue road) or the end point (Silver Park SK Stone), as all arrangements have already been arranged, to which the police responded that they will only pick the route.

The bench stated that it was ‘aware’ of multiple instances being filed against one of the key speakers, T Raja Singh Thakur. However, it alluded to the February 20 ruling of the Aurangabad bench of the HC, which allowed permission for the Jalgaon protest, and stated that similar grounds were used by authorities to deny permission.

The bench also noted that the charges against the BJP MLA in Solapur were filed before the January 17 judgment, which allowed his rally on specific terms and conditions.

“We may note that thereafter, not a single case has been registered as against T Raja Singh Thakur,” the ruling issued by the High Court said.