Mumbai: A day after it directed the Maratha quota activists to vacate Mumbai’s streets and occupied spaces, the Bombay high court on Tuesday cautioned the agitators that consequences could follow for flouting its orders. In the morning, an HC bench set a deadline for 3pm on Tuesday for protestors to leave Azad Maidan but later withdrew the ultimatum.The HC also verbally upbraided the State for not acting swiftly, saying it was “very, very, very unhappy” with the govt for showing unwillingness to implement judicial orders directing immediate removal of protestors from the streets. Questioning how protests could continue devoid of permission and despite orders to vacate, the acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Aarti Sathe said, “We are also not satisfied with the State... We want to know what they were doing…What steps have they taken to control the situation? This is serious…There seems to be some lapse on part of State too.” The court said it would be “constrained to pass any order to uphold the majesty of the law” if the situation does not improve by Wednesday. The judges posted petitions challenging permission granted for the gathering to Wednesday.Questioning the protestors, the judges said to Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil’s senior counsel Satish Maneshinde, “How can protestors compel a judge of this court to walk on the street to reach his court? You cannot force a HC judge to walk like this just because your protestors were dancing on the road.”In the morning session, the HC orally asked Jarange to ensure Azad Maidan was vacated by 3 pm if he wished to be heard. At 3 pm when a PIL by advocate Nilesh Tribhuvan and a petition by an NGO, Amy Foundation, questioning permissions given for the protest and the hardships faced by citizens, came up, Maneshinde sought time citing efforts to resolve the issue along with a cabinet sub-committee. “Protesters are all poor people who may have come for the first time to the city to support Jarange. All morchas…have been peaceful,” Maneshinde said. Maneshinde argued that Jarange had appealed to protesters to cause no nuisance and vacate the streets; he said 90% left after Monday’s order by a special bench of Justices RV Ghuge and Gautam Ankhad. “If there are any vehicles on the road, they will be asked to leave, I assure you,” he said at the post-lunch hearing.The bench then questioned the govt whether it was not the responsibility of the administration to ensure that court orders were complied with. It asked why the govt could not approach the HC on the second day of protests, stating that the number of participants had increased beyond the agreed figure of 5,000 and reached over a lakh.Advocate General Birendra Saraf submitted the State’s affidavit which said police put up banners and made announcements to get protestors to abide by the HC order. Saraf said Jarange could request the protesters to leave. “So you are relying on his popularity? Why can’t you implement our orders….you (the State) could have taken all steps…You could have vacated forcefully…we are very, very, very unhappy with your conduct... Can we permit violation of our orders? And that too for days altogether?” said the judges.When Maneshinde said “not a single citizen was hurt ” by the protest, the acting CJ said, “There was a considerable threat in the minds of the citizens…the city was paralysed and you say this.” The acting CJ said that when he was heading home from the airport at 2.30am he could not find a single patrolling vehicle on the streets. “Where is the security of citizens? Where are your mobile vans?” he asked.
