Mumbai: The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has quashed a 2009 criminal proceedings against MNS chief Raj Thackeray for alleged mischief, unlawful assembly, damage to public property, and other offences against the politician in Parli, Beed district of Maharashtra.
A bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Sanjay Deshmukh, on March 21, noted that a perusal of the chargesheet revealed that Thackeray was not part of the unlawful assembly. It said the MNS chief “did not pelt stones on the bus causing mischief or damage to the public property.”
The court said that the alleged incident of rioting on October 21-22, 2008, involved members of MNS, who were co-accused.
“Actual mischief or damage to the public property cannot be on the basis of abetment, because in the speech there could not have been a specific direction to the party workers or followers that they should go and cause damage to the public property,” the HC said.
It added: “The applicant (Thackeray) has been made as an accused only because it is alleged that the applicant had made a speech somewhere else and because of that speech, his party workers/followers got excited and then they have committed the offence.”
