On July 11, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) wrote to Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and sought action against Shiv Sena MLA and former Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray. NCPCR got into action after an organization named Sahyadri Rights Forum wrote to NCPCR accusing Aaditya Thackeray of allegedly using minors in anti-Aarey Car Shed protests.
National Comission for Protection of Child Rights directs Mumbai Police to lodge FIR against Yuva Sena president Aditya Thackeray for using minors as labour during #SaveAarey protest campaign. @AUThackeray @MumbaiPolice pic.twitter.com/pTmFBaxozd
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) July 11, 2022
In its letter addressed to the Commissioner, the Commission said that it took suo moto cognizance of the matter under Section s 13(16) of CPCR Act, 2005. As per the Commission, using children for protests was in contravention of Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Child & Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Article 21 (Right to Life) & Article 23(Right to protection from forced labor) of the Constitution of India and relevant Sections of Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The Commission said, “In view of the above, the Commission thereby requests you to investigate the matter urgently by lodging an FIR against the accused person (s) at once. The children should be identified and produced before the Child Welfare Committee as per Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 for recording their statements. An action taken report along with a copy of FIR and statement of children may be shared with the Commission within three days of receipt of this letter.”
On Sunday, Thackeray joined Save Aarey protesters and published a few photographs on Twitter as well. He said, “Aarey is a unique forest within our city. Uddhav Thackeray Ji declared 808 acres of Aarey as Forest, and the car shed must move out. Our human greed and lack of compassion cannot be allowed to destroy biodiversity in our city.”
Aarey is a unique forest within our city. Uddhav Thackeray ji declared 808 acres of Aarey as Forest and the car shed must move out. Our human greed and lack of compassion cannot be allowed to destroy biodiversity in our city. pic.twitter.com/YNbS0ryd8d
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) July 10, 2022
Notably, after Shiv Sena’s rebel leader Eknath Shinde became Chief Minister of Maharashtra with the BJP’s support, one of the first decisions taken by the Maharashtra government was to restart work of the Metro Car Shed at Aarey Colony. The project was canceled by the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government.
