Maharashtra cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal and former IPS officer KP Raghuvanshi have are involved in a row over the latter's claim that the minister had once pressured him to arrest Shiv Sena fouunder Bal Thackeray without adequate evidence, and even subjected him to humiliation.
In his biography Troubleshooter, Raghuvanshi has alleged that this incident took place during his tenure in the Special Task Force in the 1990s. Bhujbal has rejected the claim, asserting that he exerted no such pressure. He claimed that on the contrary, he wished to ensure that Thackeray did not face any discomfort during the legal proceedings.
For this reason, he said, the government considered converting Thackeray's residence, Matoshree, into a temporary jail.
Following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Mumbai had witnessed widespread communal violence. The Maharashtra government had appointed the Srikrishna Commission to investigate the riots.
In its report, the Commission held Bal Thackeray responsible for instigating violence, stating that he directed Shiv Sainiks "like a military general".
To prosecute individuals found culpable by the Commission, the state government had formed the Special Task Force which was led by Raghuvanshi.
In Troubleshooter, authored by Jitendra Dixit, Raghuvanshi alleged that Bhujbal pushed for Thackeray's arrest to settle old personal scores.
He said the Task Force's legal advisor had warned that arresting Thackeray would not withstand legal scrutiny due to insufficient evidence against him.
Key witnesses who were reportedly present when Thackeray allegedly issued his instructions, never came forward to record statements. Under such circumstances, Raghuvanshi said, the case was unlikely to survive in court.
Responding to these allegations in Nashik on Tuesday, Bhujbal countered that the file against Thackeray had been forwarded by then Police Commissioner MN Singh.
As the action stemmed from the legal process of implementing the Srikrishna Commission report, he argued, the accusation of political pressure was baseless.
Bhujbal further clarified that he had, in fact, instructed Commissioner Singh not to subject Thackeray to hardship. He asked that police not oppose Thackeray's bail in court. Should bail be denied due to technical reasons, Bhujbal said, Thackeray should be detained at his own bungalow, Matoshree, which could then be notified as a temporary jail.
Raghuvanshi has responded by accusing Bhujbal of conflating two separate cases.
He asserted that the matter Bhujbal referred to involved Thackeray's allegedly inflammatory writings - a case that required formal government sanction. In July 2000, Thackeray was arrested in connection with that case, but due to delays in securing sanction, the case collapsed within minutes, leading to his release.
The Srikrishna Commission-related case, handled by Raghuvanshi, did not require sending the file to Bhujbal at all, he said.
In the 1999-2000 Assembly election manifesto, the Congress-NCP alliance had pledged to prosecute those indicted by the Srikrishna Commission if voted to power.
With the coalition in power, there was pressure to implement this commitment.
However, Raghuvanshi, citing legal advice, declined to arrest Thackeray in the absence of concrete evidence, despite the government's desire to send him to jail.
