Bombay HC notice to RSS gen secy, NMC chief, state

Bombay High Court

THE Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has served a notice to RSS general secretary (Sarkaryawah) Suresh Joshi and others in the matter of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC’s) move to undertake development work on the RSS premises at a cost of Rs 1.37 crore. The notice was issued during a hearing on the petition by social worker Janardan Moon, who has challenged the use of “public money” for development works at RSS premises.

A division bench comprising Justice Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Justice Arun Upadhye also served the notices to NMC Commissioner Ashwin Mudgal, NMC Standing Committee Chairman Sandip Jadhav and the General Administration Department of the state government. All of them have been asked to submit their replies before October 3, when the next hearing in the matter will take place.

The NMC has plans to spend the money to construct a compound wall and cement roads on the Smruti Mandir premises of the RSS, where the organisation holds all its major programmes, such as the Dussehra address by the RSS chief and the annual training camp for its senior cadres.

The premises also houses a sprawling lodging facility as well as memorials to RSS founder K B Hedgewar and successor M S Golwalkar. The BJP, which rules the NMC, has taken a stand that the RSS is visited by thousands of its followers and, as such, the civic body is well within its powers to undertake such work in public interest.