Bombay High Court questions motive of PIL against Eknath Shinde’s 2022 Dussehra rally

The Bombay High Court has strongly criticised a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petitioner who had raised concerns about last year's Dussehra rally organised by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

The bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor remarked: "This is a politically motivated PIL. Your source of information is a political party? The source of information is the utterances of a political leader. Are you seriously committed to pursuing this petition?"

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The bench asked the lawyer representing the petitioner, "What is the source of the information you have presented in this PIL?"

The lawyer responded, "Media and newspapers." To this, the bench retorted, "You are a lawyer. Approach your profession with seriousness. Don't stray from the point. PILs should be treated with the utmost seriousness. Without thorough preparation, there should be no PIL. You can't file a PIL based on something you read in the morning."
Thereafter, Chief Justice Upadhyaya advised the lawyer, "Devote yourself to your career as a lawyer with dedication. Don't waste your energy. You've recently received your license. Focus on your profession."

The petition was filed by advocate Nitin Satpute, who was not present in court. Therefore, the lawyer present before the bench requested more time. The bench is scheduled to hear the PIL again on August 17.

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The PIL sought an investigation into the expenditure on the Dussehra rally organised by Shinde and his party members. The rally, held on October 5 at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai, reportedly drew a crowd of nearly 2 lakhs from across the state. The plea called for an inquiry by agencies like the CBI, ED, or the economic offense wing of the Mumbai Police. The petition was filed by a social worker from Kandivali East, Mumbai, through advocate Satpute.

The plea alleged that the state-run Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation had deployed 1,700 buses to transport people for the political event. Furthermore, it claimed that Shinde had paid approximately Rs 10 crore, or even more, to the state transport department for this service, in addition to compensating those who provided other amenities during the rally.

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