MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday questioned the maintainability of a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the registration of a first information report (FIR) against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and his party workers for allegedly assaulting Hindi speakers in Maharashtra.
The division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad asked the petitioner's counsel, Subhash Jha, to clarify the maintainability of the PIL, which also sought derecognition of the MNS as a political party.
The petition was filed by Ghanshyam Dayalu Upadhyay in July 2025. Upadhyay claimed that Thackeray and his party workers had been indulging in mob violence since 2005 against immigrants from other states in Maharashtra, thus endangering the sovereignty, integrity and unity of India with complete impunity.
Government resolutions issued in April and June 2025, mandating a three language policy in primary schools in Maharashtra, gave Raj and his cousin Uddhav Thackeray an opportunity to come together and form an alliance opposing the introduction of Hindi as a third language in primary schools, the petitioners said.
Over time, Raj Thackeray had given controversial speeches, which promoted enmity between different groups on the ground of place of birth, residence and language, the petitioner claimed.
"At his instance, his goons/ political workers have been beating, assaulting and lynching people belonging to states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. They have been even destroying their business establishments and shops. Raj Thackeray publicly proclaimed that these are just trailers and if Hindi is not stopped, his people would definitely hit the Hindi speaking people," the petition said.
Thackeray and his "goons", whom he claimed to be his party workers, were leaving no stone unturned to insult, humiliate, assault and terrorise people from Hindi speaking states, the petition alleged.
"Raj Thackeray's love for Marathi is 'seasonal'. He thinks that by invoking Marathi pride, he and Uddhav Thackeray could do wonders by consolidating Marathi votes and winning the Mumbai municipal corporation elections," it said.