HC rejects plea seeking ban on Jarange-Patil’s entry into Mumbai

Bombay HC dismisses PIL seeking to restrain Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil from entering Mumbai, as the march was called off.

Citing the absence of a representative on behalf of the petitioner, the Bombay high court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition that had sought directions to restrain Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil and his supporters from entering Mumbai.

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A division bench of chief justice Devendra K Upadhyaya and justice Arif S Doctor also deemed the PIL irrelevant since the march was called off on Saturday.

Earlier this year, activist Hemant Patil had approached the court to prevent Jarange-Patil’s Mumbai march, citing concerns over law and order and accusing him of instigating a discord between the Marathas and the Other Backward Classes. Additionally, the petitioner sought registration of an FIR against Jarange-Patil for various offences, including breach of peace, public nuisance, and sedition.

Jarange-Patil sat on a hunger strike last year demanding reservation for the Maratha community in government jobs and education. Although he ended his fast after negotiations with the state government, the quota activist issued a deadline, threatening to resume his protest if reservation was not declared by January 24.

On January 20, he began a march from Antarwali Sarathi in Jalna, which was intended to culminate in an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on January 26. However, upon reaching Vashi in Navi Mumbai on January 25, he decided to grant the state an additional day to deliberate on his demands.

After extensive discussions on Friday night, the state government acquiesced to Jarange-Patil’s demands and issued a draft notification on Saturday. Following this development, he announced cancellation of his Mumbai march.