Bombay High Court said that Maharashtra government has powers to maintain law and order
Mumbai:
The Bombay High Court on Monday said that the Maharashtra government cannot remain a mute spectator amid the Maratha reservation protests and it has the powers to maintain law and order.
A division bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Shyam Chandak said the government does not need a court order to control the situation.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by Gunratan Sadavarte against the protest started by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange.
Last week, Jarange’s lawyer VM Thorat had assured the court that they were carrying out a peaceful protest.
On Monday, Sadavarte told the bench that the agitation had turned violent at many places across the state.
Advocate General Birendra Saraf and Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar, appearing for the government, told the court that 267 cases have been registered across Maharashtra following the incidents of violence.
The bench then remarked that the state had the powers to control the situation.
“It is the job of the state to take care of the situation. The state cannot remain a mute spectator. It has to lift the blockade,” the HC said.
The HC said if the assurance given by Jarange that the agitation would be peaceful is not kept then it is the duty of the state to “take care of the situation”.
Thorat told the bench that these were political issues and should not be brought before the court.
He claimed that Jarange had called off the agitation on January 26 after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde assured him that their demands would be met.
“However, as the demands are not met, the second phase of the agitation has started,” Thorat said.
The court has fixed the next hearing of the case on March 5.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
