The Bombay High Court on Monday granted relief to MNS chief Raj Thackeray by staying the proceedings launched against him in a court at Kalyan for not complying with a notice served on him ahead of the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) polls in October, 2010. A HC division Bench of Justices RV More and Anuja Prabhudesai was hearing a petition filed by the MNS chief, seeking quashing the proceedings launched against him by a Kalyan-based court.
Raj faces a charge under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code that he had not complied with a notice served on him ahead of the 2010 October KDMC polls that had barred him from staying with the jurisdiction of the poll-bound municipal corporation for two days prior to the polling. The MNS chief’s lawyer Rajendra Shirodkar said that the State Election Commissioner had issued a circular in February 2010, prohibiting certain political party leaders from staying in the KDMC’s jurisdiction 48 hours before the elections.
Admitting Raj’s petition, the HC bench stayed proceedings against him in the Kalyan court. “Prima facie, there are no allegations made out against the petitioner under the second part of section 188 (which says the disobedience of the prohibitory order caused nuisance),” the HC bench observed, while staying the proceedings against the MNS chief in the Kalyan court.