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Maharashtra

Mumbai High Court Raps Govt, Police For Demolition, Violence Inside Vishalgadh Fort

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Mumbai: The Bombay High Court rapped the Maharashtra government and the police on Friday for demolition of alleged “illegal encroachments” around the Vishalgadh Fort in Kolhapur and the alleged violence on July 14.  The high court directed the senior inspector of the Shahuwadi Police station to remain present before it on July 29 to inform about the action taken by the police against those involved in the violence. 

The judges also warned that it would “come down heavily on authorities” if any residential or commercial structure was demolished in the Vishalgadh area from Friday. State advocate PP Kakade, on instructions from an officer, assured the bench that, as per the State government’s circular, no residential premises in the Vishalgad Fort area shall be demolished during the rainy season, whether they are petitioners or otherwise.

Asking for the police officer in-charge of the local police station, the bench asked Kakade to ask the officer to remain present on the next date of hearing. “Who is in charge of the law and order situation in Vishalgad? We would like the senior inspector of the said police station to come before us,” a bench of Justices BP Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla said. 

The court also said it was recording Kakade’s assurance that no further demolition would take place in monsoon. “We record your statement that you will not demolish till September, and if the same is breached, we will not hesitate to send the officer behind bars. We make it clear that if we find any structure demolished from today, commercial or household, we will come down heavily on your officers/ authorities,” the judges added. 

The HC was hearing a petition by some of the residents of Shahuwadi Taluka in Kolhapur urging the court to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a former high court judge, to probe into the alleged violence by right-wing activists. Advocate for the petitioners Satish Talekar, showed a video to the court of the alleged violence  and the law and order situation at the Fort premises. 

Questions over law and order

“Where is the law and order? These are not your (state police) officers, right? So who are these men? Are you not responsible for maintaining law and order in the State? We want to know if any FIR is lodged in this matter,” the judges asked. The court then directed the senior police inspector to remain present in the court on July 29 and inform regarding the action taken against the persons in the video. 

Talekar has sought an urgent hearing alleging that “the right-wing activist led by Maratha Royal and former member of Rajya Sabha, Sambhaji Raje Chatrapati gathered at the base of Vishalgad Fort knowing fully well that prohibitory orders were issued by the Tehsildar, Shahuwadi”. They claimed the district administration had deployed police at the base of Fort to prevent ‘right-wing’ activists from going to Vishalgad so that Muslim residents and their properties would be protected.

Prohibitory orders violated?

Despite prohibitory orders proclaimed by the tehsildar of Shahuwadi, the police allowed at least 100 protesters to climb the fort leading to “an atmosphere of chaos and lawlessness prevailed in the village for almost two hours”, the plea alleged. The petitioners also sought to amend their earlier petition, filed in 2023, against the notices issued by the State Archaeology Department directing seven people to demolish their structures within the Vishalgad Fort area. They contended that the 300 acre Vishalgad Fort precinct was declared a protected monument only in 1999 while petitioners have been residing there since decades

They had sought stay on the demolition of the houses, shops or any other structures, including the Hazrat Peer Malik Rehan Dargah at Vishalgad. The HC, in February 2023, stayed the notices and directed no coercive or demolition action against the said petitioners. 

Maharashtra

Path paved for implementation of Uniform Civil Code in the state, announcement of 7-member committee in Maharashtra Assembly to draft UCC : Devendra Fadnavis

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Mumbai: The path for the implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has been paved in the state as well and the Chief Minister has approved a 7-member legal drafting committee to ensure the implementation of the uniform law. After this, a 7-member committee has been formed today which will prepare the draft of UCC and present it in the upcoming Nagpur Assembly. Uttarakhand was the first state to implement UCC, now the state of Maharashtra has made progress in implementing UCC.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has formed a 7-member committee in the state assembly today to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state. This committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Justice Ranjana Desai and it has to submit a report within 6 months. This detail was presented by the state assembly here by the state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He said that the constitution of the country gives the provincial governments the authority to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). On the same line, many states have also approved the draft of the UCC and the UCC has also been implemented here. Along with this, a 7-member committee has been formed in Maharashtra to ensure the implementation of the UCC. After the analytical and study report of this committee, the UCC will be implemented. This report will be presented within a period of 6 months and it is expected to be presented in the upcoming Nagpur winter session. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier announced the formation of a committee regarding the draft of the UCC. The formation of this committee was approved today. And now this committee will present an analytical report related to UCC.

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Maharashtra

Member of milk adulteration gang arrested, 470 liters of adulterated milk seized

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A team led by Sandeep Patil (in-charge of Unit 12) under the supervision of DCP Nunath Dhawale of Mumbai Crime Branch arrested an accused involved in milk adulteration in Dahisar area on Thursday. The police seized about 470 litres of adulterated milk, which is attributed to the brand names of Gokul and Amul, from the spot. The police had been receiving complaints of milk adulteration for the last few days. Acting on the instructions of Commissioner of Police Devin Bharti, Joint CP (Crime) Anil Kumbhare, and Additional CP Krishnakant Upadhyay, the operation was launched under the leadership of DCP Nunath Dhawale, which included ACP Ravinder Adane and Sandeep Patil, in-charge of Unit 12. After this operation, the gang involved in milk adulteration was exposed. Along with this, after the action of the FDA, the Mumbai Crime Branch has also tightened its grip on those selling adulterated milk.

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Maharashtra

‘Don’t threaten Oppn, you are the Chief Minister’: Raj Thackeray targets Fadnavis over Mumbai e-way ‘Missing Link’ tunnel leak

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Mumbai, July 9: Launching a scathing attack on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the recent water leakage inside the Mumbai-Pune Expressway ‘Missing Link’ tunnel, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday accused the MahaYuti government of hiding its failures behind emotional rhetoric.

Addressing the anniversary event of the MNS Railway Kamgar Sena, the MNS Chief questioned the Chief Minister’s defence in the Legislative Assembly and hit back at his remarks warning the Opposition against “politicising” the issue.

Taking a swipe at Chief Minister Fadnavis’s objection to the Opposition’s criticism, Raj Thackeray said, “Wow! He (Devendra Fadnavis) says don’t politicise it. When anyone speaks out, it becomes ‘politics’ to them. What were you doing all those years when you were in the Opposition? Weren’t the agitations you staged against previous governments ‘politics’? Now that the heat is on you, you claim the Opposition is playing politics.”

He also dismissed the Chief Minister’s emotional appeal in the House, where Devendra Fadnavis had said that he could tolerate personal attacks but not the insult of Maharashtra.

“People are raising genuine questions about the Missing Link project. Where is the insult to Maharashtra in that?” he asked.

“If anyone speaks against the Central government, they are labelled ‘anti-national’. If someone speaks about the Missing Link, it is called an insult to Maharashtra! Are citizens not supposed to ask you questions at all?” Raj Thackeray added.

The MNS Chief also targeted Chief Minister Fadnavis for issuing warnings to critics and suddenly shifting languages during his Assembly speech.

“The Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) declared in the Assembly that the Missing Link features top-notch construction quality and threatened to ‘deal with’ those politicising it. Listen, you are the Chief Minister. What do you mean by ‘I will deal with you’?” Raj Thackeray remarked.

The MNS Chief also said, “After saying all this, the Chief Minister suddenly started speaking in Hindi. Who was he speaking in Hindi for? The MLAs sitting in front of him are Marathi, the Legislative Assembly belongs to Maharashtra, yet our Chief Minister speaks in Hindi. Why? Perhaps Devendra Fadnavis wanted to send a message to his party bosses at the top, telling them that ‘I will deal with them’. Even he (Devendra Fadnavis) knows where these leak videos are originating from. There is massive internal infighting brewing within the BJP — just wait and watch what happens next.”

Turning his focus to the state of infrastructure, Raj Thackeray alleged widespread corruption in government contracts, claiming it has severely compromised construction quality.

“They (MahaYuti government) have completely ruined Mumbai, Maharashtra, and Thane, and this government calls it ‘development’. Construction is happening everywhere you look; the Chief Minister should just shut down all this construction. Building just roads and flyovers does not equate to development. I honestly don’t understand what these people learn when they travel abroad,” the MNS Chief said.

Highlighting the structural flaws of the mega-project, Raj Thackeray said, “The Missing Link project was inaugurated on May 1. Now, in July, water is leaking through it. A brand-new tunnel started leaking within just 60 to 65 days! During the inauguration, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was boasting about how materials for the project were sourced from various countries. But the moment you hand it over to Indian contractors, they do exactly what they always do.”

He concluded with a serious allegation regarding contractor kickbacks.

“Some contractors are openly saying that they have to pay 56 per cent of the contract value as bribes to people in the state government. If they have to execute the project with just the remaining 44 per cent of the budget, this is exactly the kind of roads you are going to get,” the MNS Chief said.

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