No hefty bonds for MNS activists

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has restrained the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) from executing bonds of Rs 1 crore from one Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activist and Rs 25 lakh from six others. The activists had forcefully evicted illegal hawkers in and around Thane railway stations and foot overbridges on October 21. The court upheld the claims of the petitioners that they were not habitual offenders and had not broken any legal shops, and hence their action did not merit bonds of such huge amounts.

A division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Dr Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi was hearing a criminal writ petition filed by Avinash Jadhav, president of the MNS Thane unit who along with six others were issued show-cause notices by the Thane ACP asking why they should not furnish bonds of Rs 1 crore and Rs 25 lakh in light of their aggressive actions against illegal hawkers. The show-cause notice was issued at the behest of the Naupada police station where complaints had been registered against the seven.

According to the plea, a bare look at the notices showed a total non-application of mind on the part of the ACP at arriving at the conclusion that the petitioners posed a threat to the lives and properties of the public at large. The plea further prayed that the entire proceedings were initiated by the ACP against the petitioners with mala fide intentions.

The courtd expressed surprise at the bond amounts decided by the police. The public prosecutor  said, “We will not take any other coercive action against the petitioners till November 20, the next date of hearing, and not ask them to execute the bond amount.”