The Bombay High Court on Tuesday (September 3, 2024) issued notice to the State of Maharashtra on a plea filed by the former Maharashtra Cabinet Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) faction leader Jitendra Satish Awhad who is seeking to consolidate multiple first information reports (FIRs) lodged against him.
Mr. Awhad, who represents the Mumbra Kalwa constituency, faces allegations of tearing a photograph of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar during a protest staged against the Maharashtra government’s decision to include teachings from the Manusmriti as part of the primary school syllabus.
Three FIRs were lodged against him for offences of promoting enmity between groups. He was subsequently booked under provisions of Sections 153, 153A, 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which include charges of offences committed in a place of worship. He was also booked under Section 188, and charged with disobeying lawful orders along with the relevant provisions of the Bombay Police Act.
On Tuesday (September 3, 2024), a Division Bench of Justices, comprising Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj K. Chavan, issued notice and scheduled the matter for hearing after two weeks.
Appearing for Mr. Awhad, advocate Vinod Utekar urged the Bench to compile all the three FIRS lodged in Raigad and Pune districts against his client. According to the petition, Mr. Awhad learnt about the decision of the State to include the ‘controversial’ writings of Manusmriti in the syllabus for the primary schools and that these writings have already been criticised by prominent leaders in India. Soon after the writings faced criticism from various strata of society, the State of Maharashtra clarified that it would not proceed with its proposal of inclusion of the controversial writings in the syllabus.
The protest was staged on May 29, near the Chavdar lake in Mahad city of Raigad district in Maharashtra against the inclusion of the controversial writings in the primary school syllabus. Mr. Awhad in his petition claims that Dr. Ambedkar too protested several decades ago to get the right of the marginalised section of the society, to drink water from common places. On tearing Dr. Ambedkar’s photograph, he claimed that it was an accidental action that was performed under the impression that he was tearing the disputed writings and not the photograph.
“During the protests, the petitioner tore the disputed writings and along with it, unknowingly and accidentally, tore a photo of Dr. Ambedkar. The petitioner was under the belief that the papers he was tearing were actually the disputed writings. However, by creating an impression that the petitioner intentionally wanted to disturb the peace and harmony in the society, at least three FIRs were lodged against him,” the petition stated. The Bench has instructed the public prosecutor to seek guidance on Mr. Awhad’s request.
