Sena chief gets court reprieve

The Bombay High Court quashes the proceedings of a defamation case against Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray stating it a “fit case for quashing”, reports Urvi Mahajani.

The Bombay High Court on Monday quashed the proceedings of a defamation case against Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray stating it a “fit case for quashing”. The was case filed by a lawyer in 1998 in connection with an article in Dopahar Ka Saamna.

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The April 15, 1996, story had reported that Suresh Jethani, counsel for Mukund Engineering Limited, had obtained signatures of the then president of Ambernath Municipal Council Dadasaheb Kamble by taking advantage of his illiteracy.

Jethani filed a private criminal complaint against Thackeray, managing editor, party leader Subhash Desai, then publisher, and Sanjay Nirupam, the then editor, before the magistrate court in Ulhasnagar. Thackeray moved the court seeking to quash the proceedings.

Thackeray’s counsel Balkrishna Joshi argued that Kamble had filed an affidavit subsequently before the magistrate stating that Jethani had obtained his signatures by taking undue advantage of his illiteracy. The newspaper had simply reported the affidavit, said Joshi.