Non-bailable warrant against Raj Thackeray over ‘Chhat Puja’

Jamshedpur, July 11: A court here on Friday issued a non-bailable warrant against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray for failing to appear before it in a case regarding his alleged derogatory remarks on 'Chat festival'. Hearing a petition, filed by a local lawyer Hameed Raza Khan, the court of First Class Judicial Magistrate AK Tiwari issued the non-bailable warrant against Thackeray for failing to appear in the court on Friday. Earlier, the court had issued a bailable warrant in connection with the case on June 19. Khan had filed the petition in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate PK Moitra against MNS chief in February in which he had alleged that Thackeray had made the remarks while addressing a public meeting at Mumbai on January 31. Thackeray had described 'chat festival', observed by the people of Bihar in Mumbai, as farce, which led to a wide-spread agitation in the country including, Jharkhand and Bihar. Accusing Thackeray of hurting the religious sentiments of a section of the society, Khan had filed the case under section 153 (rioting), 295A (a non-bailable section for hurting the religious sentiments) and 298 IPC. Khan had further alleged that the MNS stand on North Indians as well as the 'chat festival' was a deliberate attempt to promote feelings of regionalism in the country. The complainant had also produced newspaper clippings with regard to Thackeray's statement to substantiate his charges. Earlier, the court of First Class Judicial Magistrate(II) Anil Kumar had also issued a bailable warrant against the MNS chief in connection with a case lodged by another lawyer Sudhir Kumar Pappu for Thackeray's alleged objectionable remark against the Hindi speaking people, including Biharis. The court had issued the warrant after Thackeray failed to appear in the court on June 12 last. Bureau Report


Your comment(s) on this article

What Raj Thackeray said about Chat Pooja was bad enough. But a Muslim lawyer has filed a case against Raj Thackeray to exploit the situation and bring about a Hindu vs. Hindu situation. Beware Hindus, not only is there infighting amongst you, but you are allowing outsiders to come within and aggravate the trouble. VHP should advise the Muslim advocate to withdraw the case and take up the matter with Raj Thackeray for an amicable solution, otherwise VHP should itself file a case against Raj Thackeray. –
K.Venugopal - Mumbai