Uddhav Thackeray Did Not Hurt Religious Sentiments, Plea Filed For Publicity: Bombay High Court Orders Man To Pay Rs 2 Lakhs To Former CM

The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court, recently held that Maharashtra's former Chief Minister and the President of the divided Shiv Sena - Uddhav Thackeray did not hurt religious sentiments by not applying the sacred ash on his forehead, presented to him by a Mahant (Priest) during a public event in Nanded.

Single-judge Justice Sanjay Mehare also imposed a cost of Rs 2 lakhs on the petitioner - Mohan Chavan and has clearly told him to pay the said hefty amount to Thakceray, via a Demand Draft (DD).

"It is an interesting case..... considering the facts, prima facie every person who is knowing little law would say that this is nothing but the abuse of process of law or using the judicial system to become famous and celebrity. Such petitions lower down the images of the respected members of the society. Most of the times, the petitions like this are filed with ulterior motive," Justice Mehare observed in the order passed on August 29.

Justice Mehare, further opined that the Magistrate correctly disbelieved the complaint of the petitioner and dismissed the petition. The Sessions Court also did the legal and correct job, the judge added. Accordingly, the judge expressed disinclination to entertain the writ petition with costs of Rs 2 Lakh.

"The allegations levelled against the former Chief Minister of State of Maharashtra appears basically without any foundation. The Court is of the view that this is a fit case to impose the costs for abusing the process of law," the judge underscored.

At this stage, the counsel for the petitioner sought to withdraw the plea. The bench permitted the same, saving, "Leave granted to the petitioner to withdraw the writ petition with costs of Rs 2 Lakh, to be paid by the petitioner to the former Chief Minister Udhav Balasaheb Thakare within three weeks from today and submit the compliance report to this Court. If the order is not complied with, stringent action would be taken against him," the bench ordered.

Appearance:

Advocate Salgar Suresh Prabhakar appeared for the Petitioner.

Additional Public Prosecutor PV Diggikar represented the State.

Case Title: Mohan Chavan vs State of Maharashtra (Criminal Writ Petition 1432 of 2024)

Click Here To Read/Download Order.