Court should act within limits, says CM Fadnavis

Citing various orders of the Supreme Court, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the remarks passed by the Bombay high court against him in connection with the Narendra Dabholkar murder case were uncalled for and the court should act within its limits.

According to an SC order, the state cannot issue any directive in an ongoing investigation. “The Supreme Court in a decision has said that the legislature, executive and the judiciary have separate powers. None of the three should encroach on the other’s domain or make an inappropriate remark against each other. The judiciary should act within its limits,” the chief minister said, while replying to a debate on the governor’s address in the state Assembly.

The Bombay high court (HC) last month pulled up chief minister and senior bureaucrats over the slow pace of investigation into the murder of rationalists Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar. The court made the observation without naming the chief minister. “You hold 11 portfolios, including the home ministry, but do not have time to look into the matter and remove obstacles in the investigation,” a division bench of justice SC Dharmadhikari and justice BP Colabawalla had said. “Chief ministers must realise they are not only leaders of their parties, but also heads of states…This is shameful. Nobody appears to have time to supervise and review the progress of the investigation.”

“I read in the newspapers that the justice asked if the CM has taken any review of the investigation? But the fact is the chief minister has no relation to the case. The CM is neither an accused nor respondent in the case. Also, nothing is pending before the CM. The Dabholkar case is currently with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and according to the Supreme Court, the state government has no authority to interfere in any ongoing investigation. I respect the honourable judge and he may not have said this with ill intention,” Fadnavis said, without mentioning names. Citing an order of the apex court, he further said the court must show respect to other organs [legislature and executive] of the democracy. The CID is investigating the Pansare case. The chief minister said seven people have been arrested in the matter while the other two are still absconding. The investigation is also being monitored by the court.