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Maharashtra

Samajwadi Party MLA challenges Maharashtra govt order tracking inter-community marriages

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A Samajwadi Party MLA has filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the Maharashtra government’s order setting up a Family Coordination Committee (FCC) to monitor inter-faith and inter-caste marriages in the state, here on Friday.

MLA Rais K. Shaikh has said that the Government Resolution (GR) to the effect is discriminatory against a particular religion and violates Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 15 (Right to Life which includes Right to Privacy) and Article 25 (Right to Freedom of Religion) and other articles as enshrined in the Constitution.

The GR of December 13, 2022 came in the wake of the grisly killing of a Palghar girl, Shraddha Walkar in Delhi, allegedly by her inter-faith boyfriend, Shaikh said in the plea filed through lawyer Jeet Gandhi.

“That the assumption that adult women who choose and consent to marry someone from another faith need to be ‘saved’ is misplaced and goes against the spirit of the Constitution,” Shaikh said in his plea.

He claimed that it is the government’s attempt to discourage and/ or prohibit interfaith marriages and is a precursor to the laws related to purported ‘love jihad’ marriages that have been stayed in numerous states in the country.

The government’s FCC is ostensibly intended to provide a platform to ‘counsel, communicate and resolve’ differences between such couples and their estranged families.

Shaikh said that the FCC can intervene at the behest of any person which is a breach of the couple’s privacy, especially when two consenting adults are married to each other.

He pointed out that the discourse around marriage in India fails to place adult individuals at the centre with the family, campaigning vigilante groups and societal forces playing the role to control the lives and determine the future of the young people who have chosen their own partner.

The plea argued that the GR seeks to create a regressive and false narrative that “it is only in inter-faith or inter-caste marriages that a girl is at risk from her partner”.

Besides, Shaikh said that the GR discriminates against a particular religion and encourages a divide among people instead of harmony, co-existence, assimilation and peace.

The FCC is authorised to seek information of both registered and unregistered marriages, which the petition warns could violate several rights of couples who have eloped to marry.

He contended that the GR is ultra vires the Constitution as it was issued unilaterally, in extreme haste, under suspicious circumstances without following due procedures, particularly since distressed women have recourse to other laws like Indian Penal Code and Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

Shaikh said that the GR doesn’t cover those who plan to wed under personal laws and/or in their own religion, and sought that it should be scrapped, and the petition is likely to come up for hearing in due course.

It may be recalled that earlier, the state government’s move had been flayed on various counts, including that it could result in targetting of people belonging to a particular minority.

Maharashtra

The government should immediately withdraw the FIRs registered against schools in Mumbai’s slum areas, make them permanent by relaxing the conditions: Abu Asim Azmi

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Mumbai, June 24, 2026: Senior Samajwadi Party leader and MLA from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, Abu Asim Azmi, raised the issue of private schools running in slums (slum areas) in the House during the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly. He has demanded that the FIR registered against the principal, secretaries and chairman of these schools be withdrawn immediately and these schools should be saved from closure. Addressing the House, Abu Asim Azmi said, “My constituency Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar is a very poor and backward area. Around 30 to 35 thousand children are studying in private schools here. The capacity of BMC schools in this area has been completely exhausted and there is a long waiting list of children for new admissions. In such a situation, these private schools are the only support for the education of poor children.

Key demands and points:
Relaxation of conditions and regularization

The conditions of the government for approving schools such as open space, playground, etc. are practically impossible to meet in slum areas. Therefore, the government should make special laws for these areas and regularize them. FIRs registered against the management of these schools in Shivaji Nagar and Deonar police stations The R should be withdrawn immediately. He said that the result of these schools is more than 90 percent and their educational standard is better than BMC schools. Here, teachers are teaching children for a meager salary of just Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 7,000. He added that there has been a delay in the formation of the committee. In the last meeting, the government had also assured to form an inquiry committee on this issue, but no committee has been formed so far. Abu Asim Azmi warned that if these schools are closed due to administrative action, the future of 30 to 35 thousand poor children will be completely dark. He has strongly appealed to the government to intervene in this matter immediately.

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Maharashtra

Fake BMC Deputy Commissioner Altaf Sheikh arrested

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Mumbai: Crime Branch claims to have arrested a young man who used to deceive people by posing as BMC Deputy Commissioner. The Crime Branch investigated the complaint of a 45-year-old man named Altaf Sheikh and found the complaint to be valid, after which the Crime Branch laid a trap and arrested him. He also used to use a car with a light. Apart from this, an identity card was also recovered from his possession, a fake sticker of the Government of India and a fake card were also recovered. The accused used to use an official visiting card and used to declare himself as BMC Deputy Commissioner. He was arrested from Malad in a car with a light. This operation was carried out by DCP Raj Tilak Roshan of Mumbai Crime Branch.

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Maharashtra

Murder in Mumbai local train over dispute over closing door during rain

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Mumbai: Tension has flared up in a sensational murder on a Mumbai local train. A passenger was stabbed to death by another passenger on a Mumbai local train. The incident took place at around 10 pm on Tuesday. Police said the deceased passenger has been identified as Mayank Lohar (22). The accused has been identified and six teams have been deployed by the Railway Police to arrest him. After this incident, once again the issue of travel safety has come to the fore. A person was stabbed to death on a Mumbai local train at around 10 pm on Tuesday, June 23. Police said the incident took place in a first class compartment. The incident took place between Borivali and Andheri stations. During heavy rain, an argument broke out over closing the door of the train and it escalated. During this, one passenger stabbed another passenger to death. According to Railway Police sources, after the argument, other people beat up the accused. The enraged accused took out a knife from his bag and attacked Mayank, killing him. The attacker got off the train at Borivali station before it stopped and fled. After the incident, the Railway Police has formed six teams to arrest the accused and the police have also started a search operation and search campaign.

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