Bhujbal sues Thackeray

Congress leader and leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Chhagan Bhujbal filed a case against Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and the editor of Saamna, the party newspaper, for publishing defamatory and malicious reports about him on July 23 and 24.

The reports came soon after the police fired at and killed Dalit protesters at Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar, at Ghatkopar in Bombay. The protests began after someone garlanded a bust of Dr Ambedkar with slippers on July 11. A case was filed in the court of district magistrate Surendra Tawde in Nashik.

Summons have been issued to Samna's managing editor Sanjay Raut, publisher Subhash Desai and Sena chief Bal Thackeray asking that they be present in the Nashik court on October 20, when the case comes up for hearing.

In his petition Bhujbal has stated that the report published in Samna on July 22 was baseless and malicious and was published to defame him and spread hatred in society. The story came under the banner headline, "An ugly deed to kill neo-Buddhist! Dalit brothers demand an answer now!! Here's proof of that ugly act!!! Bhujbal is the villain who garlanded Dr Ambedkar's statue with chappals!"

Bhujbal mentioned in the petition that he had left the Sena following differences with Thackeray over the latter's allegedly autocratic style of functioning, his discriminatory policies, his anti-Dalit views, and his opposition to the implementation of the Mandal commission report.

"Thackeray has been persistently maligning my name, abusing me, using abusive language in public meeting, likening me to treacherous characters of Maharashtra like Suryaji Pisal, Chandrarao More, Ganajni Shirke (all of whom had supported the Mughals during Shivaji's reign), Shrikhandi (a eunuch described in the Maharashtra) and Lakhoba Lokhande (a negative character from Acharya Atre's controversial novel To Me Navhech) after I left his organisation. All the three defendants mentioned in the petition have been maligning my good name purposely," the petition said.

"'I've been exposing the rampant corruption in the ranks of the current alliance government in Maharashtra and the misdeeds and corrupt practices of the Thackeray family. Because of my persistence to expose the truth the three defendents mentioned in the petition has taken undue advantage of their personal freedom to use slanderous and malicious language in their newspaper, Saamna, to malign me," Bhujbal said.

Bhujbal mentioned the Ramesh Kini murder case, the desecration of Ambedkar's statue and the subsequent attack on his official bungalow near the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly by hordes of Shiv Sainiks after he angered the Sena chief.