HC to hear Thackeray camp’s plea against delay in go-ahead for Dussehra rally

The rally is expected to be the first show of strength for Thackeray in Mumbai after he was forced to quit as the chief minister when Shinde-led lawmakers rebelled against him in June

The Bombay high court will on Thursday hear Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s plea for directions to the municipal authorities for considering its applications for holding their annual Dussehra rally at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on October 5 amid a tussle with chief minister Eknath Shinde’s camp over the party’s control.

Shiv Sena has been holding the rally at Shivaji Park since its inception in 1966. (PTI)

The rally is expected to be the first show of strength for Thackeray in Mumbai after he was forced to quit as the chief minister when Shinde-led lawmakers rebelled against him in June and formed the government with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Shiv Sena has not split formally. A majority of the party’s legislators support the Shinde faction and claim to be the real Shiv Sena.

Both camps have sought permission for the rally. The Thackeray camp has accused Shinde of pressurising the municipal authorities.

The high court will hear the plea days before a five-judge Supreme Court constitution bench is due to consider Shinde’s petition on September 27 to let the Election Commission of India decide his claim over the “real” Shiv Sena and the party symbol. The Thackeray camp has demanded complete estoppel against the proceedings before the poll watchdog.

The high court posted the Thackeray faction’s plea for a hearing after Anil Desai, its secretary, mentioned it for an urgent listing on Wednesday. The plea said the Shiv Sena has been holding the rally at Shivaji Park since its inception in 1966 and the party’s supporters throng the event without any formal invitation.

The Thackeray faction said it applied for permission for the rally on August 22 and August 26 but the civic authorities are yet to grant it. It sought directions for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to grant the permission within three days.

Advocate Joel Carlos, who appeared for the Thackeray faction, told a division bench of justices R D Dhanuka and Kamal Khata that the BMC has no reason to not grant the permission and hence urgent hearing of the petition should be granted.