Bombay High Court dismisses plea by Uddhav Thackeray faction challenging permission granted to Eknath Shinde faction for Diwali Pahat

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena against the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) which had refused permission to the Uddhav faction to organise Diwali Pahat at a Thane location [Mandar Pramod Vichare v Thane Municipal Corporation]..The order passed by Justice RD Dhanuka and Kamal Khata paved way for two members of the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena to hold Diwali Pahat at the particular location to which Uddhav faction had staked claim..The petition challenged an October 13 order of TMC granting permission to the Shinde faction for erection of a pandal and stage in Thane, after preliminary permission was granted to the Uddhav faction on October 10.“The order is ex-facie illegal and abuse of process of law, nullity, void, against the principles of equity and natural justice, a gross abuse of the powers and jurisdiction, a gross misuse of the process of law, arbitrary and unlawful because the application off the respondent nos. 3 and 4 is shown to have received backdated/ antedated and granted surreptitiously," the plea said. .The petitioners pointed out that they had received permission to organise the Diwali Pahat at the location in question since 2016-17 and, therefore, they had every right to do it at the same place because a large number of Thane residents attended it.It was also contended that the office bearers of the municipal corporation, Police department and State government were acting at the behest of the present ruling party.“The entire exercise done by the present respondents is completely motivated to harass the petitioners and out of political rivalry,” the plea said. .It was also pointed out that there was every possibility that the person having political connections and an upper hand could manipulate the authorities to obtain permissions including antedated.“All citizens of India have a right of equality. but this very essence of democracy enshrined as a constitutional right has been given a backseat, at the helm of power wielding person,” the plea said explaining that the petitioners had no option but to approach the court..Additionally, the petitioners pointed out that the corporation was fully aware that the respondents were not the president and members of Yuva Sena and thus, had no authority to apply for any permission..The Shinde members meanwhile submitted that they had been conducting the musical event for the last ten years and the permission they had received was in their individual capacity. .The municipal corporation said that as per provisions of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, the application for conducting the event has to be submitted 30 days prior to the event. The permission would then be considered once the requisite no objection certificates are brought from fire department, traffic department and police department.They showed documents to prove that Shinde faction members had applied on September 19 and that application included all NOCs; while the Thackeray faction members had applied on October 3 and that included only one NOC. .Noting all documents placed before it, the Court observed that they did not find any malafide on the part of municipal corporation while granting permission and refused to intervene in the petition. Accordingly, the petition was dismissed.