Mumbai: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Bombay high court seeking registration of a sedition case against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray for trying to create hatred among Hindu-Muslims and creating a public nuisance by threatening that his party workers will play Hanuman Chalisa outside mosques across the state if mosques fail to remove loudspeakers, which are used for Azaans, by May 4.
The PIL, which has also sought to restrain Raj from organising press conferences over the Hanuman Chalisa and loudspeakers atop mosques row, is expected to come up for a hearing in the due course.
The PIL filed by Right To Information (RTI) activist Hemant Patil, through advocate RN Kachave, has pointed to recent public statements made by Raj wherein he had not only issued threats of party workers playing the Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers outside the mosques but also made derogatory comments against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.
The petition states such controversial comments could result in a breach of peace between Hindus and Muslims and also incite NCP workers to stage protests across Maharashtra.
“Due to the said fact by the words spoken (by Thackeray), signs or by visible representation or otherwise brings, attempts to bring in hatred between Hindu and Muslim community at the instance of Thackeray,” reads the petition.
In light of this, the petition states that though an FIR was lodged by Aurangabad police against Raj booking him under sections 153 (causing provocation with an intent to cause riot), 116 (abetment of offence) and 117 (abetment of offence committed by more than 10 people) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he (Patil) had written to the commissioner of police and the senior inspector to register a case of sedition against the MNS chief.
However, as neither had taken any action hence he approached the high court.
Recently, the home minister had also hinted at initiating action against Thackeray as his statement on the removal of loudspeakers was aimed at creating a divide in society. The petition is expected to come up for hearing in due course.