Court wonders on plea to declare bandhs illegal

One-liner: The Bombay High Court on Monday wondered if directions from the court to political parties, asking them to refrain from calling bandhs, would have any effect on them.

Crux of the matter: The remarks were made by a division bench while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by four senior citizens, including retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro.

• They all challenged the Oct 11 bandh in Maharashtra called by the three constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi govt in the state

Huge loss: As per the plea, the bandh, called to express solidarity with farmers' protest over the now-scrapped agri laws and against the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on Oct 3, had caused a loss of Rs 3,000 crore to the public exchequer.

Petitioner's plea: The petition sought the HC to declare the bandh as unconstitutional and illegal and direct the three coalition partners - the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP - to pay compensation to the affected citizens

• The bench directed the Maharashtra govt to file its affidavit in response to the petition and posted the matter for further hearing to Feb 14

Sources: PTI