Standing Committee meeting postponed amid corporators’ apprehensions of arrest

The meeting was postponed against the backdrop of BJP corporator Akash Rajpurohit, who was taken into custody for reaching the court late for the previous hearing on August 5

MUMBAI: The BMC Standing Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday was postponed due to BJP corporators, including the chairperson of the Standing Committee Prabhakar Shinde, fearing they would be arrested. The court had issued non-bailable warrants for the corporators in a previous hearing concerning a 2020 protest case.

Standing Committee meeting postponed amid corporators’ apprehensions of arrest

The meeting was postponed against the backdrop of BJP corporator Akash Rajpurohit, who was taken into custody for reaching the court late for the previous hearing on August 5. Rajpurohit was subsequently remanded to court custody for two days.

Speaking to HT, Shinde said he had reached the court on Wednesday morning for the hearing, but it was scheduled for the afternoon. “When we exited the court, we were called again at 1.30 pm and we rushed there immediately,” he said. “We were called at 2.45 pm initially. I thought it would not be possible to chair a meeting when I was in court so we postponed it to Thursday.”

The meeting was abruptly called off around 2 pm on Wednesday, as the accused corporators had to remain available for the court proceedings. Two other corporators in the Standing Committee—Mahim corporator Sheetal Gambhir and education committee chairperson Rajshree Shirwadkar—are also accused in the case.

Rajpurohit, meanwhile, said that on Wednesday he had reached the court at 10.45 am, before its scheduled starting time of 11 am. “The matter was put up later in the afternoon so I went to attend the BEST Committee meeting,” he said. “I got a call at 1.15pm, saying that I had to come to the court. We were there in no time.”

The case relates to a protest at BEST Bhavan during the Covid-19 lockdown, when BJP leaders and corporators had demanded that BEST waive six months of electricity bills. More than a dozen corporators were booked in connection with the protest, including legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar and minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha.

According to the police case, Rajpurohit and 18 other corporators, including Lodha and Narwekar, had assembled at BEST Bhavan to protest against the electricity bill hike. The Colaba police booked them under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act, relating to the offences of assaulting a public servant, rioting and unlawful assembly during an epidemic.

The accused had been facing the possibility of arrest after the court issued non-bailable warrants against the five BJP corporators on August 5, including Shinde and Rajpurohit . Rajpurohit was arrested after the last hearing while the warrants of the other four were cancelled later the same day.

While remanding Rajpurohit to custody, Justice Mahesh Jadhav observed that this was the second occasion on which he had appeared late before the court. Rajpurohit, however, maintained that his delay was caused by a problem with the lift.

The Standing Committee meeting has now been rescheduled for Thursday at 3 pm.