Bombay HC asserts Maharashtra Govt. mustn’t stay silent over Maratha quota protests, and has powers to maintain law and order. A division bench of Justice A S Gadkari and Justice Shyam Chandak said the government does not require orders from the court to control the situation.
The Bench hears Gunaratan Sadavarte’s plea against Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange’s protests. Last week Jarange’s lawyer V M Thorat assured peaceful agitation, but Sadavarte on Monday told the bench the agitation had turned violent in many places across the state.
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The bench then remarked that the State has powers to control the situation. “It is for the State to take care of the situation. The State cannot be a mute spectator. It has to remove blockades,” the HC said. If the assurance given by Jarange that the agitation would be peaceful is not kept then it is for the state to “take care of the situation”, the HC said.
Thorat contended before the bench that these matters are political in nature and shouldn’t be litigated. He asserted that Jarange had halted the agitation on January 26 following assurances from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde regarding meeting their demands.”However, since the demands were not met, a second phase of agitation has started,” Thorat said.
The court scheduled the case for further consideration on March 5th.