HC takes up PIL challenging Ganesh Naik’s ‘janata darbars’ in Navi Mum; seeks more documents

The PIl, filed by Shiv Sena’s Navi Mumbai chief Kishor Patkar on September 17 and registered on November 11, specifically targets Naik’s role as the guardian minister of Palghar district, arguing that he has no jurisdiction to conduct such official public grievance meetings in Navi Mumbai which falls under Thane district

Navi Mumbai: The Bombay High Court (HC) on Tuesday took up a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging BJP leader and forest minister Ganesh Naik’s authority to hold ‘janata darbars’ (grievance redressal meetings) in Navi Mumbai.

BJP leader Ganesh Naik (HT PHOTO)

The PIl, filed by Shiv Sena’s Navi Mumbai chief Kishor Patkar on September 17 and registered on November 11, specifically targets Naik’s role as the guardian minister of Palghar district, arguing that he has no jurisdiction to conduct such official public grievance meetings in Navi Mumbai which falls under Thane district.

On Tuesday, the division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam A Ankhad listed the matter at the pre-admission stage under ‘fresh admission’.

The bench questioned its authority to bar government officials from participating in ‘janata darbars’, observing that such restriction involved complex issues of executive privilege and administrative protocol. The court suggested that the dispute might be better resolved through political or administrative dialogue rather than a judicial order. It was also suggested the petitioner could raise their objections directly at the darbar.

“During the proceedings, the court asked for additional documents in English regarding the procedural objections raised in the PIL,” Patkar told Hindustan Times.

The court granted two weeks’ time and scheduled the next hearing on December 9.

The PIL comes amid a simmering turf war between Mahayuti allies—the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena—in the politically sensitive Thane–Navi Mumbai region. It is seen by many as a direct pushback from the local Shiv Sena unit against the BJP’s growing assertiveness in the region, and follows controversies such as the presence of officials at a janata darbar in Vashi amid torrential rains.

The PIL names the state government, urban development department, Thane collector, and the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), among others, as respondents. It raises strong objections to the mandatory presence of senior officials from NMMC, CIDCO, and other departments at Naik’s meetings, claiming it disrupts routine governance and should be treated as an absence from official duty.

“I had asked under RTI (Right to Information) on what basis the IPS, IAS, and government officials attend the darbars and what the success rate of the complaints submitted has been,” Patkar said. “I didn’t get any reply and hence approached the court.”

The PIL paints a grim picture of the civic crisis in Palghar, citing over 36,000 pregnant women—including 2,442 under the age of 19 years—facing healthcare challenges, widespread child malnutrition, and poor conditions in ashram schools where two student suicides have been reported. Though Palghar has been a district for 10 years, tribal and rural communities residing there still suffer from malnutrition, unsafe bridges, and collapsing health services, it alleges.

“Instead of solving these problems, the minister is busy holding darbars in developed cities, summoning officers from other departments and stalling regular administration,” Patkar said. “Palghar’s people deserve solutions, not spectacles. Let the minister first fix his own district before presiding over others.”

The PIL also questions Naik’s performance as forest minister, citing inaction on the rising number of leopard attacks in Maharashtra.

“If he cannot solve the leopard menace as forest minister, how can he claim to resolve every department’s issues in a janata darbar,” Patkar wondered.

Naik, however, remained defiant.

“A minister is of the entire state,” he asserted after the PIL was filed. “If the minister wants to hear the issues of the people in a region, he can go there, inform the administration, and conduct the hearing. If someone has filed a PIL, I do not have a problem.”

Naik also attributed public suffering in Palghar to bureaucratic inefficiency, saying, “80% of the problems faced by people are due to the ‘nalayak’ (incompetent) officials in the system. If someone messes with people’s issues deliberately, there is a need to speak out firmly.”