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Thackeray and his party members have been charged in the suit with repeatedly threatening the North Indian population in Maharashtra and encouraging violence.
Sunil Shukla, the president of the Uttar Bhartiya Vikas Sena, has petitioned the Bombay High Court for relief after the Supreme Court denied a plea seeking the filing of a formal complaint against Raj Thackeray, the leader of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), for allegedly engaging in hate speech directed at Hindi-speaking citizens [Sunil Shukla v State of Maharashtra].
Thackeray and his party members have been charged in the petition of instigating violence and repeatedly threatening Shukla and the North Indian-Hindi-speaking community in Maharashtra.
Shukla claimed in his appeal that he has been the target of serious threats, physical intimidation, and harassment for the past year because of his political identity and support for North Indian immigration in the state.
The appeal claims that despite at least nine written complaints over a ten-month period, the threats have greatly increased and that police and State authorities have done nothing.
One of the incidences mentioned in the petition happened in October 2024 when a group of about thirty people who were reportedly connected to MNS broke into his political party's office building and tried to loot it.
Shukla claims that despite seeing the hour-long incident, a police officer did not take any statements or make any arrests.
According to the petition, numerous attempts to bring up the matter with high-ranking police officers and political figures were disregarded.
Another instance mentioned is from March 30 of this year, when Thackeray's address at a Gudi Padwa rally was extensively televised and purportedly contained appeals for violence against Hindi-speaking bank and mall personnel who did not speak Marathi.
According to the appeal, this comment was the direct cause of several assaults against Mumbai staff members who spoke Hindi.
Furthermore, the petition claims that Shukla received many death threats via WhatsApp and phone after bringing a case against Thackeray before the Supreme Court earlier last month.
MNS supporters shared his phone information, which led to a deluge of threatening texts. He said no protective action has been taken so far, even after alerting the police and high-ranking state authorities.
In addition to filing formal complaints against Thackeray and other individuals who threatened him, Shukla has requested immediate police protection for himself and his family.
Additionally, he has urged the Court to order the Election Commission of India to take into account deregistering MNS for allegedly breaking election regulations and inciting animosity and intolerance.
He has also insisted that a Special probe Team (SIT) or an independent body be given control of the probe into the threats and attacks in order to maintain objectivity and shield it from political meddling.
The petition was submitted via Sriram Parakkat, an advocate
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