BEST claims 8 buses vandalised in Mumbai during bandh

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) on Monday said that eight of its buses were vandalised in different areas of Mumbai between midnight and 8 am today.

BEST further claimed that the buses were vandalised amid Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) Maharashtra bandh today in protest against the Lakhimpur Kheri incident that claimed the lives of eight people including four farmers.

BEST has sought police protection for the same.

Ghatkopar blast bandh case in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court in 2005 had declined to grant any interim relief to the Shiva Sena and BJP and had directed them to deposit exemplary damages of Rs 20 lakh each within a week with the Maharashtra Government for the loss suffered to Mumbai for bandh called by them to protest against the Ghatkopar blast.

The apex court had asked political parties to deposit the amount with the Loss Compensation Funds constituted by the State Government.

Here’s what the Court had said:

Condemning the bandh which has been banned by the apex court by a 1998 judgement, it said “we cannot shut our eyes unless the message goes to all concerned”.

“A message should go that damages would be so deterrent that in future there is no violation of the court order,” the Bench observed adding that “if someone violates the court order he must be ready to face the consequences”.

The court said, “the political parties must rise above the party line and manifesto and resort to legitimate methods.” “How can somebody take the society to ransom. Trains, buses and people are killed in the bandhs…,” the Bench said expressing concern over the loss to public money caused during the bandhs.

During the arguments when senior advocate U Uday Lalit, appearing for the petitioners, said that a peaceful bandh call was given to protest the series of bomb blasts in the city, the court observed that bandh is not a solution to such act. “This (terrorism) has become a worldwide phenomenon. Everyone is trying to overcome this. See what happened in London… Does the answer lies in enforcing this type of bandh,” the Court observed.

The Bench recalled that the apex court has already held that bandhs are wholly impermissible. “How can the voice of the people be ignored by the political party,” it observed further.

The party, headed by Bal Thackeray, was fined Rs 20 lakh by the Bombay High Court on June 22, 2005, this year on a PIL filed by NGO “Agni”, theatre personality Alyque Padamsee and former Municipal Commissioner BG Deshmukh, alleging that the city suffered a loss of Rs 50 lakhs due to the bandh.

The Court had also fined the BJP Rs 20 lakh for the same.

The PIL had maintained that the bandh was forced on the people of Mumbai and that it was violative of the Supreme Court order of 1997 prohibiting political parties from resorting to such methods of agitation.

(With inputs from PTI)

Published on: Monday, October 11, 2021, 02:10 PM IST