Madhya Pradesh court summons Raj Thackeray, 4 legislators

BHOPAL - A court in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district has asked Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and four of his party legislators to appear before it in a case slapped against them for the attack on Samajwadi Party member Abu Azmi in the Maharashtra assembly for taking his oath in Hindi.

The court action came on a petition of Pukhraj Dashora, who said he was hurt by the reports of MNS legislators’ attack on Azmi. He termed it not only “a gross insult of the national language but also an attack on national integration”. The court sought the response of Thackeray and his legislators and asked all of them to appear before it for hearing.

“Chief Judicial Magistrate R.R. Badodiya has taken cognizance of the petition under section 153 (a) of the IPC for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, language, place of birth, residence and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony - and 153 (9b) - imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration,” Dashora’s lawyer Pradeep Maru said.

“While the notices were issued Wednesday, the date for hearing has been fixed for Dec 14,” he added.

The four legislators are Shishir Shinde, Ramesh Wanjale, Vasant Gite and Ram Kadam.

“Since the actions of the MNS in Maharashtra have had effect in the entire nation, including Mandsaur, the court has the right to hear the case,” Maru added.