Mumbai (Maharashtra): The Indian Bar Association has filed a contempt petition cum PIL against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and others for levelling "false, scandalous and contemptuous allegations" against judges of the Bombay High Court. The petitioner has also made Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil, and Saamna Editor Rashmi Thackeray respondents. In a statement, the Indian Bar Association said that the main reason for filing the petition was the allegations made by Sanjay Raut against Bombay High Court Judges and the entire judiciary alleging a biased approach in granting relief to BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.
"As per Sanjay Raut, the courts, on one hand, granted relief to people related with BJP but not granting relief to the accused belonging to Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) etc. His indication was towards the no relief by the courts to the jailed Ministers Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh," the statement further read. The Bombay High Court had granted interim protection from arrest to Kirit Somaiya in a case of alleged misappropriation of funds collected in the name of saving the decommissioned naval aircraft carrier Vikrant.