MUMBAI, DECEMBER 16: The Bombay High Court today refrained from taking action against Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray for his comments which amounted to contempt of court. The comments were made at a public function and subsequently reported in the Sena mouthpiece Samna immediately after the court had ordered the reinstatement of former Pune municipal commissioner and IAS officer Arun Bhatia.All that the bench of Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice Ranjana Desai noted was that ``if the statements attributed to him (Thackeray), were true, then it was highly regrettable''. The court also said that action to be taken ``depends on cases and in this particular case, this was the correct approach''. It alluded to similar treatment meted out by the Supreme Court recently in a petition that sought contempt of court proceedings against Booker prize winner Arundhati Roy for her essay on the Narmada dam, `The Greater Good. Roy had criticised the apex court for its rulings in some of the Narmada dam cases.The case against Thackeray has been filed by the Bhrashtachar Nirmoolan Samiti through its President Manav Joshi, who presented a cutting from the April 16, 1999, edition of Samna to court. The newspaper report quotes Thackeray as saying that ``if the judges were to pass judgements that interfered with the state's administration, let the judges then sit in Mantralaya and themselves solve the problems of the people''.The comment was made at a public meeting in Mulund a day after the court held that the transfer of Bhatia as Pune civic chief to the state Archives Department was ``malafide''. It had also directed that Bhatia be reinstated.In the court today, state Advocate General Goolam Vahanvati said it was a serious statement that clearly interfered with the administration of justice, adding that the present government would initiate action if so directed by the court.He, however, suggested that it woud be preferable if action is not initiated since ``such people were always waiting for an oppurtunity to attack again, so initiation of action may drag the institute of the high court into further controversy leading to more harm''.Following this, the bench passed the order noting that the ``statements if true, were highly regrettable. But we don't propose to give any directions in the case. Petition disposed off''.This is the second time that Thackeray has got away with statement that have been blatantly critical of the high court. Earlier, following the Ramesh Kini controversy in 1996, he had alleged at a public meeting that the judge had been bribed with Rs 30 lakh. No action was taken against him in this case as well.
