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Order reserved in contempt petition against Raj Thackeray
The leader allegedly threatened lawyers from representing accused of July 11 blasts, reports Urvi Jappi
The Bombay High Court on Thursday reserved order in a contempt petition filed by two NGOs against president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Raj Thackeray for allegedly threatening lawyers from representing accused of July 11 blasts.
Thackeray himself had appeared before the division bench of Justice BH Marlapalle and Justice JH Bhatia after which the bench reserved the order.
The petition was filed by two NGOs - Indian Association of People's Lawyers (IAPL) and the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) – seeking contempt of court action against Thackeray for threatening the lawyers.
On July 16, Thackeray had held a public rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar where he had allegedly said that activists of his MNS would not let any lawyer represent any of the accused in the July 11 train bombings that killed nearly 200 people.
“Such statements tantamount to interfering with the judicial process and would intimidate lawyers and deter them from appearing for the accused,” said Sebastian.
Thackeray’s statements amounts to obstructions in administration of justice and interferes with course of justice, he added.
