FIR registered against Deepak Pawar, Shiv Sena leaders for ‘unlawful assembly’

During a protest at Azad Maidan, organisations working towards promoting the Marathi language had burnt copies of the two government resolutions (GRs) introducing Hindi as the third language in schools from class 1

Mumbai: The Mumbai police late Thursday night registered a case against Deepak Pawar, founder-president of the Marathi Abhyas Kendra, four Shiv Sena (UBT) functionaries and 300 other party workers for unlawful assembly during a protest at Azad Maidan on June 29.

Mumbai, India – 02, July 2025: Deepak Pawar, the key figure who united people across Maharashtra to oppose the state’s three-language policy, at Press Club , in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, July 02, 2025. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

During the protest, outside the Marathi Patrakar Sangh at Azad Maidan, organisations working towards promoting the Marathi language had burnt copies of the two government resolutions (GRs) introducing Hindi as the third language in schools from class 1. Opposition leaders, including Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, his son and MLA Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai, and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Nitin Sardesai, participated in the protest. Hours later, the Maharashtra government scrapped the two GRs.

Based on a complaint filed by constable Suraj Khot from the Azad Maidan police station, an FIR has been registered against Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) functionaries Santosh Shinde, Santosh Gharat, Vaibhav Mayekar and Shashi Pawar, and 300 other party workers. No arrest has been made yet.

The case was registered less than 48 hours before a joint victory rally organised by the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS in Mumbai to celebrate the scrapping of the GRs. The two parties, led by estranged cousins Raj and Uddhav Thackeray, had earlier threatened to hold a joint protest rally against the government’s decision to what they described as “Hindi imposition”.

The FIR was registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Bombay Police Act related to unlawful assembly and disobeying orders by public servants. “It was an unlawful assembly, and no permission had been taken for the protest,” said a police officer. “They violated prohibitory orders relating to unlawful assembly issued by the Mumbai police, illegally gathered a crowd and chanted slogans against the government.”

Although neither Uddhav nor Aaditya Thackeray were named in the case directly, their roles in the incident will be examined, said the police officer. “We have not named the leaders. However, they attended it and even burnt the GR,” added the officer.

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Harshal Pradhan said the party is not scared of such cases and will continue to fight to protect Marathi. “Such cases were registered to suppress the agitation. Since its formation, the party and its leaders have been facing such cases for raising a voice for the Marathi manoos (people). We are not scared of such cases and will continue to fight for Marathi, and will continue our opposition to imposing Hindi.”

When contacted, Pawar said, “We fought for our rights within the framework of the law. We never violated it. If someone sees this struggle as unconstitutional, it’s truly unfortunate. We won’t be intimidated by such complaints or back down from our protest. It will continue till we win.”

With inputs from Saurabha Kulshreshtha and Niraj Pandit.