"Courts Are Not Able To Work At Full Strength And These Political Leaders Are Organising Rallies?" Bombay High Court Fumes At Political Rallies Amid Covid

Perusing a list of recommendation by an advocate to avoid the third wave in the Covid management PIL, a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni observed "Are they (politicians) less responsible than those holding fake vaccination camps? Everyone is trying to take mileage for political gain."

The court asked the State government to devise a method to stop such rallies, "You will have to activate your machinery to stop any political rallies defying Covid protocols. If you can't handle it, let it be done by the court. We will not allow this to happen. We are shutting down courts, we are not able to work at full strength and these political leaders are organising rallies?," the court fumed.

The bench was referring to a recent rally in the satellite township of Navi Mumbai over the issue involving whose name the yet under-construction Navi Mumbai airport should carry. According to news reports, while the Shiv Sena – one of the ruling coalition partners in the Maharashtra Government – wants it named after Late Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena's founder and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's father, various parties are opposed to this.

The rally to oppose this proposal was said to have involved locals as well as a few political leaders, with thousands of protestors trying to gherao CIDCO's office building at CBD Belapur.

The court, expressing shock at the numbers, observed, "We thought it would be 5,000 but the last rally was 25,000. How will you manage Covid? Is this the time to rally? And what is the issue? Naming the airport. Can it not wait till Covid is over?" the division bench observed, adding that work for the airport wasn't even completed, but the naming issue had already gained so much significance.

After advocate Rajesh Inamdar pointed it out, the bench referred to HC's decision from earlier this year on 33 per cent reservations in promotion to people from the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Vimukta Jati, Nomadic Tribe and Special Backward Classes issue and said that the State had already approached the Supreme Court (probably meaning to say there was no need to take out rallies on that issue) and asked, "When will these political leaders go before their electorate and say that the matter is before the highest court of the land that has the final say?"

Airport Controversy

News reports say the proposal to name the airport after late Shiv Sena supremo was earlier sanctioned at a board meeting of Navi Mumbai's planning agency City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). In December last year, State Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde had written to CIDCO asking it to send a proposal of naming the airport after Late Bal Thackeray. Earlier this month, the State government also announced that the airport will be named after Bal Thackeray.