Sena, BJP move SC against Bombay HC

NEW DELHI: The Shiv Sena and the BJP moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday against a Bombay High Court order imposing Rs 20 lakh fine each on them for organising bandh against the Mumbai Ghatkopar blasts about two years back.

In their petitions, to be heard on September 16, Sena-BJP said various Muslim organisations and Left parties had also joined the protest and participated in the bandh against the Maharashtra government's inaction in preventing the killings of innocent persons.

On a PIL filed by NGO 'Agni', theatre personality Alyque Padamsee and former Municipal Commissioner B G Deshmukh, HC had imposed the penalty, but stayed its judgment. The petitioners had said that due to the 'bandh', the city suffered huge financial loss and people suffered enormously for they could not attend work and patients could not reach hospitals.

Sena's counsel Shivaji Munjajirao Jadhav said the HC erred in holding the Sena-BJP responsible for organising the 'bandh'. It was in fact a people's protest against the blasts. The petition also questioned the HC judgment on the ground that it had not looked into the damages caused by the blasts, but fixed the penalty amount. Moreover, no fine could be imposed on a political party, the petition said.

But, the PIL said that the 'bandh' was forced on the people of Mumbai and it was violative of a Supreme Court 1997 judgment prohibiting political parties from resorting to such methods of agitation.

In 1997, the Supreme Court had dismissed a petition by the CPM against Kerala high court that held that calling for 'bandh' by any political party was violative of fundamental rights.

"We are satisfied that the distinction drawn by HC between a 'bandh' and a call for general strike or  'hartal' is well made out with reference to the effect of a 'bandh' on the fundamental rights of other citizens,'' SC had said.

"There cannot be any doubt that the fundamental rights of the people as a whole cannot be subservient to the claim of fundamental rights of an individual or only a section of the        people,'' the apex court had ruled. It upheld the Kerala HC judgment that said "there cannot be any right to call or enforce a 'bandh' which interferes with the exercise of the fundamental freedoms of other citizens."