“I am neither an accused nor a respondent in the case. The State government has no role in the investigation of this case,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday referring to the ongoing case in the murder of rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar.
During a discussion on the Governor’s address in Assembly, the CM, while responding to the issue raised by Chhagan Bhujbal (Nationalist Congress Party), recalled a comment by the Bombay High Court during the hearing in the Dr. Dabholkar case, and said that all organs of democracy must respect the powers and rights of each other.
In March, the high court had expressed displeasure over the pace of probe in the Dr. Dabholkar murder and asked whether the Chief Minister did not have time to take stock of the situation. “What is the CM doing? He holds 11 portfolios, including Home, but does not find the time to take stock of the case. His deputies do not have the time to remove obstacles in the probe?” the court had said. Noting that a political leader belonged to the State and not just any party, the court observed, “It is a sovereign function and cannot be outsourced.”
Mr. Fadnavis said, “I read the comments in a newspaper and must inform the House that those are not part of the court order.”
“Legislature, executive and judiciary are three organs of the democracy and each has their role and rights specified. We respect the judiciary and it is also seen as a place to get justice by common people. I expect that all three organs of the democracy should respect each other’s rights and roles,” he said, adding that he was drawing attention of the Assembly to the academic points so that members could take note.
Explaining that the order of the apex court in separate cases have upheld the Right to Reputation, Mr. Fadnavis said he is not connected to the probe in the murder case as it is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Watch out for Lotus
Explaining the type of syllabus being taught to school children, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis read out some easy lines from a Class I Marathi book, much to the amusement of the entire House. CM read out the line 'Chhagan kamal bagh' (Chhagan, watch the lotus) looking at senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal who smiled back. Lotus is the BJP's election symbol and Opposition benches are facing the danger of a mass exodus to the BJP. Another NCP leader Ajit Pawar had on Tuesday commented that BJP should not make the next Leader of Opposition join the party. On Thursday, the House burst into laughter after Chhagan and lotus were connected in one sentence.
Yoga lessons from Baba Ramdev
Newly inducted minister in the Cabinet Ashish Shelar was in for a surprise when he was invited by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev to perform some relatively easy looking asanas. Baba Ramdev was addressing a press conference in the Assembly to launch an initiative for the International Yoga Day, when he invited Shelar to join him on the make-shift stage. Ramdev then revealed he had known Mr. Shelar since 2004 when he displayed his yoga skills for the first in Mumbai at the MMRDA grounds. The minister performed a few moves before hastily leaving the floor, in this case the tiny table on which Ramdev had climbed to perform, with some experience that would hold him in good stead during his tenure.