The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Shiv Sena what the party and its former member Narayan Rane had done following the N N Vohra Committee report on a nexus between politicians and organised crime syndicates. Its an accepted fact that organised crime syndicates and terrorists cannot survive without police support or political patronage, said Justice J N Patel,part of a Division Bench with Justice Amjad Sayed. The court made the observation following an affidavit by Rane that his remarks on a nexus between politicians and terrorists had been made in the light of the Vohra committee report that had examined the criminalisation of politics. Ranes affidavit,in turn,was in response to a PIL by Solapur-based Purushottam Barde,who submitted that the leader had said after 26/11 that such a nexus exists. Justice Patel said a very responsible politician has come out with this disclosure. Now the people want to know what the secret is and what the government has done about it, Justice Patel concluded. Justice Patel observed that the Vohra panel report had come out in 1993 and that Rane was Chief Minister in 1999 when the Shiv Sena-BJP was in power. We want to know if the Shiv Sena was aware of the Vohra Committee report and what they did, Justice Patel said. They could have asked for the removal of the Chief Minister, he added. Not sparing Rane either,the court asked his lawyers: When did your client first read the report? You were once the Chief Minister. Did you come across the report then? When the court asked about the petitioners antecedents,it was informed that he was a Shiv Sena activist. The judges then took the petitioner to task,saying this was abuse of law and he was unnecessarily dragging the court into this. Senior counsel R A Dada,appearing for Rane,said the police have recorded the leaders statement on the allegations. Additional public prosecutor Aruna Kamat Pai said the police are investigating the matter. The court observed that the Vohra Committee report had examined all such politicians and concluded the report without disclosing their names. Theres an IB report that 26/11 may be repeated. The government has done nothing since 1993, the court said. On the courts query on the response from the government,Pai said the joint secretary (Home) has gone through the matter but not given any instructions yet. Nobody wants to identify them (politicians). The Shiv Sena is accountable to the people, the court observed. On the governments insistence,the case has been adjourned for hearing till November 26. Stage by stage* After 26/11,Rane says nexus exists between politicians and terrorists* Solapur-based Purushottam Barde files litigation* Rane clarifies his statement was in context of Vohra Committee report,submitted in 1993,on politician-criminal links* Court observes Rane (then with Shiv Sena) was CM,asks what his govt did about nexus
