Bombay HC reserves order on PIL seeking probe against Uddhav Thackeray for allegedly disproportionate assets

Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray sought the dismissal of a public interest litigation seeking probe against him and his family for allegedly massing wealth disproportionate to known sources of income.

Senior counsels Aspi Chinoy and Ashok Mundargi, appearing for Uddhav Thackeray, his wife Rashmi Thackeray and son Aditya Thackeray, argued the PIL has been filed on assumptions and without any factual foundation.

A division bench of Justices Dheeraj Thakur and Valmiki Menezes on Thursday briefly heard the matter and then reserved its order.

The petition, filed by behaviour and soft skill consultant and city resident Gauri Bhide, sought a direction to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation against Thackeray and his family.

The petition is absolutely bereft of any material and is filed purely on assumptions. The petitioner has an alternate remedy of filing private complaint before a magistrate's court seeking police probe,'' Chinoy argued.

He said Uddhav Thackeray is not in power anymore and, hence, it cannot be alleged he or his family would influence any probe. Mundargi argued Bhide should have first filed a complaint with the police or a private complaint.

It further alleged Uddhav Thackeray and his family never disclosed any particular service, profession, and business as their official source of income. Yet, we find they have huge properties in a metro city like Mumbai and in Raigad district, which may run into crores, the plea adds.