Bandh: Sena, BJP fined Rs 20 lakh each

The Bombay high court on Friday fined the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party Rs 20 lakh each for calling a bandh in Mumbai on July 30, 2003 in the wake of a blast in the city.

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A bench comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S U Kamdar said the money would go into a fund and will be used to improve public amenities.

A PIL, filed by AGNI, theatre personality Alque Padamsee and former municipal commissioner B G Deshmukh, had alleged that the city had suffered an estimated loss of Rs 50 crore because of the bandh.
 
The group submitted that not only was the bandh forced on the people of Mumbai, it was violative of the Supreme Court order of 1997 prohibiting political parties from resorting to such methods of agitation.

The Shiv Sena and BJP have all along maintained that the bandh was spontaneous.

Shiv Sena spokesman Subhash Desai, in a affidavit filed before the court, had said in a democracy, industrial and political actions do result in disruption of services causing inconvenience to people.

The July 30 bandh was called to protest a blast in suburban Ghatkopar which had left four persons dead and 48 injured.