HC defers Thackeray's petition

The Bombay high court on Monday deferred till September 26 a petition filed by Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray seeking transfer of a defamation case filed against him by former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal from a Nasik court to a Mumbai court.

The matter was adjourned till September 26 to enable Bhujbal to file a reply. Earlier, Justice Abhay Oka had asked Thackeray to file a fresh petition seeking transfer of the case as he had not mentioned his age while urging the court to transfer the case on the grounds of old age.

Accordingly, Thackeray filed a fresh petition and the court asked Bhujbal to file a reply. In the case registered in 1997, Thackeray had allegedly made certain remarks against Bhujbal at a public rally and his comments were later published in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana.

Bhujbal filed a defamation case in a Nasik court against Thackeray, Saamana's executive editor Sanjay Raut and Sena leader Subhash Desai.