HC nod to Thackeray's Sena faction for Dussehra rally
Amid a tug of war between the two factions of the Shiv Sena over conducting the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai, the Bombay High Court on Friday gave its order in favor of Uddhav Thackeray's camp of Shiv Sena. The court called the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) order, rejecting the application of both the Sena camps, a clear abuse of law.
- Uddhav's father Bal Thackeray held the first Dussehra rally or melawa at Shivaji Park in 1966 — the year in which he founded the party.
- Following a rebellion within Shiv Sena months back, the Shinde and Thackeray factions are vying for the title of the "real" Shiv Sena as the case stands pending before the Supreme Court and Election Commission of India (ECI).
Today HC decided that Shiv Sena's Dussehra rally will be held at Shivaji Park. It's been happening since 1966. We presented Shiv Sena's history before HC. The HC rejected laworder situation raised by BMC. Shiv Sena has permission to hold rally from 2-6 Oct: Anil Parab, Shiv Sena pic.twitter.com/Ni8ERsr4Bg
— ANI (@ANI) September 23, 2022
The Thackeray faction and its secretary Anil Desai had filed a petition in Bombay High Court challenging the BMC's order of denying them permission to hold the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park. The division bench of Justices RD Dhanuka and Kamal Khata allowed the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to use the ground from October 2 to 6 while directing it to maintain law and order.
The court directed the local police to make adequate arrangements to prevent any trouble regarding law and order while asking it to record the event on video. Following the order, celebrations broke out among supporters of Thackeray camp. BMC had earlier denied permission to both the Sena camps citing the possibility of law and order problems, based on a police report.
#WATCH | Shiv Sena workers celebrate after Bombay High Court permitted the Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena to hold Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/askbWuNUnC
— ANI (@ANI) September 23, 2022
Earlier, Thackeray called the denial of permission a "bad script of the BJP" and had declared to go ahead with the rally irrespective of permission. Continuing for over five decades, the Dussehra rally could not be held for the last two years owing to the pandemic. Shinde camp's Kiran Pawaskar said they would discuss whether to challenge the matter in the SC or not.
