The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Tuesday stepped forward to defend youth activists embroiled in a sharp legal and public debate over the enforcement of “peace bonds” during anti-government demonstrations in New Delhi.

The Thackeray camp, in an editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’, asserted that executing a peace bond is neither an apology, a surrender to state authorities, nor an admission of guilt.

The controversy stems from recent ‘Tiranga’ demonstrations organised in defiance of strict bans across major protest venues in the national capital, including Jantar Mantar. Following their arrest, police required Cockroach Party youth leaders — identified as Abhijeet Dipke, Saurabh Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and Ajinkya Shinde — to sign peace undertakings to secure their release, said the editorial.

In contrast, activist Neha Bora refused to sign similar undertakings and challenged the practice in court. The Delhi High Court subsequently issued directives stating that authorities cannot demand a peace bond until an ongoing inquiry concludes and a full police report is submitted, noting that no formal bond had been lawfully demanded from Bora in that manner, added the editorial.

According to the editorial, the split approach drew comment from former Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju, who publicly praised Bora for her defiance while sharply criticising the youth leaders who signed the undertaking, framing their compliance as a major strategic risk for democratic movements.

Pushing back against Justice Katju’s criticism, the editorial mounted a detailed legal defence of the young activists, emphasising that peace bonds are strictly preventive measures rather than punitive actions, citing the landmark Supreme Court precedent in the Madhu Limaye case. “Signing a peace bond does not equate to issuing an apology, kneeling before the government, or confessing to a crime. It is merely an undertaking to maintain peace; it does not enforce absolute silence or legally prevent citizens from participating in public demonstrations,” remarked the editorial.

The editorial highlighted the governing statutory framework under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Former Section 107 of the IPC (now Section 126 BNSS) serves as an undertaking to maintain peace without stripping citizens of their fundamental rights under Article 19 of the Constitution to hold peaceful assembly and protest. Under former Section 122 of the IPC (Section 141 BNSS), police officers hold no unilateral authority to declare a bond violated. Any alleged breach must be formally proved before a magistrate. If a breach is established before a magistrate, the legal consequence is strictly limited to simple imprisonment for a maximum of one year for the remainder of the bond duration, along with forfeiture of the specified bond amount.

In the conclusion, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena urged young citizens fighting for democratic freedoms not to be intimidated by procedural mechanisms used by law enforcement. The party also called on senior legal figures, including Justice Katju, to actively guide and encourage emerging youth leaders rather than penalising their tactical decisions in court.

In a major push toward wildlife preservation and habitat protection across Maharashtra, the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL), chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Monday approved key environmental proposals during its 26th official meeting.

Among the landmark decisions made, the board granted Wildlife Sanctuary status to two key forest pockets and formally approved proposals for 14 new Conservation Reserves spanning seven districts.

The new Wildlife Sanctuary status has been accorded to Kolamarka Conservation Reserve (Gadchiroli district), which is widely renowned as a vital habitat for endangered Asiatic wild buffaloes (Bubalus arnee).

Kolamarka has officially been upgraded to a Wildlife Sanctuary. Further, approval was granted to expand the existing Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary by incorporating 588.767 hectares of private and revenue land from six villages (Ogda, Khodde, Tirmal, Pachghar, Phansad, and Amle) to make the sanctuary human-settlement-free.

Proposals for 14 new conservation reserves spread across Pune, Raigad, Nashik, Nandurbar, Thane, Palghar, and Chandrapur districts received official board clearance. These reserves include Velhe Mulshi (Pune / Raigad), Bhorgirigad (Pune), Lonavala (Pune / Raigad), Dindori (Nashik), Surgana (Nashik), Taharabad (Nashik), Chinchpada (Nandurbar), Alibaug (Raigad), Ghera Manikgad (Raigad), Gumatara (Thane), Jawhar (Palghar), Asherigad (Palghar), Dhamani (Palghar) and Ekara (Chandrapur).

Further, the State Board for Wildlife declared 100.139 sq. km area in Koka Wildlife Sanctuary as Critical Wildlife Habitat and 255.79 sq. km area in Jaakwadi Bird Sanctuary as Critical Wildlife Habitat.

It was also decided that maintenance, silt removal, and dam repair works inside wildlife sanctuaries must be permanently integrated into the respective Management Plans within 3 months.

Wildlife officials are to be notified in advance instead of seeking fresh administrative approvals for every project.

Clearances were granted for essential civic and infrastructure projects (irrigation, drinking water, roads, bridges, power transmission, medical units, and underground optical fibre cables) across protected zones, eco-sensitive areas, and tiger corridors. Discussions were held on declaring Human-Wildlife Conflict as a Natural Disaster under the Disaster Management Act, establishing quiet zones in tiger reserves (core/buffer/ESZ), and formulating relocation policies for villages in buffer zones.

The CM instructed officials to evaluate staffing requirements, deputations, and vacant positions within one month to shift notified sanctuaries from Regional Forest/Forest Development Corporation Maharashtra control to the dedicated Wildlife Wing.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President, Raj Thackeray, on Monday launched a scathing attack on the state’s crumbling urban infrastructure and worsening traffic management, stating that he is eagerly waiting for the day the people of Maharashtra hand over power to him.

Addressing a commercial vehicle transport convention and transporters’ rally in Navi Mumbai, Raj Thackeray criticised the lack of civic discipline, poor city planning, and flawed execution of e-challan systems, warning that the state’s traffic crisis will soon spiral out of control.

Raj Thackeray warned that the traffic problems plaguing urban areas have already reached alarming proportions and are bound to get much worse due to a total lack of structured boundaries or civic rules. While clarifying that he is not opposed to the e-challan system, he criticised the arbitrary manner in which fines are levied. He argued that e-challans should strictly be camera-monitored rather than issued manually on the spot by personnel.

Raj Thackeray accused authorities of drafting development plans out of “friendship with builders” rather than consulting experts or implementing proper town planning.

Pointing out that roads should ideally cover around 15 per cent of a region’s total area, he noted that areas originally built for 50 people now house 500 without adequate parking infrastructure. He remarked that bridges and roads are often engineered to break down within two years so that repair contracts can be continuously issued.

“Looking at the traffic in this country gives me a glimpse of its present and future. We neither know how to drive vehicles nor how to park them,” Thackeray remarked. In a sarcastic critique of modern traffic management, he noted that cities now have automated traffic signals, yet human traffic constables are still deployed right beside them because nobody trusts motorists to obey rules.

Sharing an unheeded suggestion he previously made to the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner, Thackeray proposed colour-coding footpaths (red and black for strict ‘no parking’ zones, yellow and black for designated parking areas).

However, he lamented that lack of public implementation renders such ideas useless. Thackeray warned that cities lack long-term vision. If suburban railway systems—which carry millions of daily commuters in regions like Navi Mumbai—ever collapse, the sudden influx of private vehicles onto the roads would completely gridlock the city, trapping residents inside their homes.

He criticised the haphazard growth of towers and colonies lacking adequate public spaces like playgrounds, gardens, or sustainable water supplies, questioning whether this chaotic urbanisation can truly be called “discipline.”

Concluding his address with a direct political assertion, Thackeray declared that bringing discipline to Maharashtra’s transit and urban sectors does not require “rocket science,” but rather political will. “I really look forward to seeing when the people of Maharashtra hand over power to me. Bringing discipline to these kinds of things is not rocket science; it just takes the will to do it,” Thackeray said, drawing loud applause from the audience of transporters and party workers.