Bombay High Court Bars Maharashtra Bandh in Response to Alleged Sexual Assault Case

A 'Maharashtra Bandh' was called on Saturday (August 24) in protest against the alleged sexual assault of two girls in a school in Badlapur in Thane district. During this time, schools, colleges, banks and other services may be affected, its advisory was also issued. Meanwhile, news is coming that the Bombay High Court has barred political parties or individuals from calling for a Maharashtra bandh.

A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay and Justice Amit Borkar said that the Maharashtra government will take all necessary steps to stop the bandh. The bench said that the court will soon pass a detailed order on two petitions filed on Friday through advocates Subhash Jha and Gunaratna Sadavarte challenging the call for the bandh.

The High Court said we are barring any political party or any person from calling for a bandh. The state government will take all preventive steps. State Advocate General Birendra Saraf told the court that the call for a bandh is illegal. He said the state government will take all steps to ensure that there is no damage to the public or public property. The state will perform its duty, but everyone has constitutional responsibilities, which they must follow.

The court asked Saraf what precautionary measures the government has taken and whether any arrests have been made as a precaution. To this, Saraf said that notices have been issued to some people, but no arrests have been made yet.

Advocates Jha and Sadavarte cited a judgment of the Kerala High Court which said that no political party can call for a statewide bandh. The High Court has enough powers to intervene in such cases. The advocates also gave the example of the Maratha reservation movement, during which public properties were damaged on a large scale. The detailed order of the court is expected to come by evening.