On Friday, the Bombay High Court bench dismissed a petition demanding an investigation into the amount of money spent this year on the Dussehra rally organized by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on October 5.
While declining to hear the case, the bench led by Justices AS Gadkari and PD Naik noted that the substance of the petition’s arguments required it to be filed as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) rather than a writ petition. Nitin Satpute, the petitioner’s counsel, was ordered by the judge to comply with specified rules following which Satpute agreed and decided to convert the petition into a PIL.
#BREAKING | Big win for Maha CM Eknath Shinde as Bombay HC dismisses plea over Dussehra rally.
— Republic (@republic) December 17, 2022
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According to the complaint, about two lakh people from across the state attended the Dussehra rally organised by CM Eknath Shinde on October 5 at Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). A social worker from Mumbai’s Kandivali East submitted the plea, the petitioner had requested an inquiry by the CBI, ED, or the Mumbai police’s economic crime branch into the funding of the rally.
According to the appeal, the state govt used the state-run Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation’s 1,700 buses to ferry people to the public gathering. The complaint also noted that Shinde had paid State Transport Rs 10 crore or more for this service, in addition to rewarding individuals who offered extra services during the event.
The petitioner also alleged that Shinde was designated the chief minister of an unrecognized government and the leader of an unregistered party. The petition went on to say that because Shinde’s party isn’t registered, the issue is, “Who spent all this money on the rally?”
The petition further stated that the individuals in Maharashtra had to suffer since there were no buses for passengers travelling or regular commuters. It also said that the Mumbai Nagpur Samruddhi highway was not available to the public and was instead utilized to ferry people to the BKC event, culminating in a huge collision near Daulatabad with no deaths reported.
It was reported earlier, that the rally was organized by CM Eknath Shinde on October 5 at the BKC ground in Mumbai where Balasaheb Thackeray’s son and Uddhav Thackeray’s elder brother Jaidev Thackeray joined the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena. “Let me make it clear that I am a Thackeray who does not believe in joining some group. But Eknath Shinde has taken a stand on certain issues. I liked that. Such an active person is what Maharashtra needs,” he had said.
