Thane court orders FIR against Maharashtra MLA Jitendra Awhad for allegedly inflammatory remark

A Thane court has ordered the police to file a first information report against former Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad for allegedly making inflammatory remarks in 2018, Bar and Bench reported on Saturday.

Judicial Magistrate Mahima Saini on February 3 directed the Bhayander police to register the case against Awhad, a member of the Nationalist Congress Party [Sharadchandra Pawar], under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to promoting enmity between groups and making statements aimed at creating hatred.

Awhad’s alleged remarks were about a man named Vaibhav Raut, who was arrested by Mumbai’s Anti-Terrorism Squad on August 9, 2018 for possessing arms and explosives, The Times of India reported. The NCP (SP) leader had allegedly claimed that the bombs were meant to target a rally of the Maratha community seeking reservation.

A lawyer named Khush Khandelwal, who is also the national president of the youth wing of the Hindustan National Party, had filed a complaint seeking a case against Awhad. After he did not get a satisfactory response from the Bhayandar Police, he approached a court in Thane.

The judicial magistrate said on February 3 that on a preliminary reading, Awhad’s statements amounted to promoting enmity under the Indian Penal Code.

The NCP (SP) leader’s lawyer, however, argued that the allegations were politically motivated, and that…

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