The Maharashtra government has filed around 67 FIRs against religious leader Mahant Ramgiri Maharaj in the Bombay High Court, stating that he He was allegedly making disparaging remarks about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad at an event in Nashik.
The government further told the court on Monday that cybercrime police were removing objectionable material shared online containing alleged derogatory remarks.
Maharashtra Attorney General Dr Birendra Saraf made this observation while opposing a petition asking Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to register an FIR after an FIR was registered against Ramgiri Maharaj , he shared the stage with Ramgiri Maharaj.
The petition, submitted by advocate Mohammad Wasi Sayed and others, claims that since 2014 there has been a “dramatic increase in communal incidents and systemic Islamophobic practices protected by state and federal governments” and preservation, leading to mob lynchings, riots,” and boycotts of Muslims.
On Monday, advocate Ejaz Naqvi, representing the petitioners, argued that Shinde did not take action against Ramgiri Maharaj but shared the stage with him and stated that the saint would The state is protected.
Similarly, Naqvi also pointed out the inflammatory remarks made by BJP MP Nitesh Rane but did not take any action against him.
However, a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan noted that a petition to remove Ramgiri Maharaj’s video and register an FIR in case of Rane’s alleged hate speech was already being heard.
On the hate speech, the bench said, “We cannot stop them from speaking, but the police are taking action and registering FIRs if possible.”
“Just because they (Eknath Shinde and Ramgiri) share a stage, it does not mean that an FIR should be registered. You have to show mala fide. If there are irregularities, an FIR will be registered. You (Naqvi) are making a mistake when you deviate This is what happens when the core problem is: deleting the video.”
Saraf also opposed the plea saying that an FIR has been registered against Ramgiri Maharaj and as of September 19, 67 FIRs have been registered.
Opposing the petition, Saraf said, “One cannot initiate such a process” and stressed that the chief minister’s name should be removed from the list of respondents in the petition. The judge agreed and threatened to impose costs on the petitioners.
The judge directed Naqvi to revise his prayer and remove all respondents except cyber police and local police. The judge said: “The police have a mechanism. They will deal with this issue.”
The bench will further hear the petition on October 17.