HC rejects plea on CBI probe against Thackeray

The judges said that aggrieved petitioners should have challenged the magistrates’ orders when the matters were being decided. Of the total 24 cases, six were withdrawn, two are pending trial in court, four pending investigation and 12 were classified. The petitioner has prayed that Thackeray be detained under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers and Drug Offenders Act. He claimed that the state government withdrew or refused to investigate the cases against him due to “political gains and extraneous circumstances”. Yavatkar’s counsel P Janardanan argued that police had illegally classified the cases. However, additional public prosecutor Rajiv Patil argued that as per the Bombay Police Act, the police were earlier empowered to classify the cases, until the recent the high court judgement which transferred the power to the magistrate. The Chief Justice also observed that even if the classification was done by the police, the petitioner could have objected when the summary of classification was filed by the respective magistrates.

The judges also said that the petition was vague and lacked necessary details like dates, reasons for withdrawal of cases and summary classification.