Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) member Aditya Thackeray has filed a plea the Bombay High Court in order to intervene in a PIL seeking CBI probe against him in the cases concerning death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput and Disha Salian.
The PIL was filed by the Supreme Court and High Court Litigants Association.
The plea has been moved by Aditya in response to the allegations made against him in the PIL by Association, represented by its President Rashid Khan Pathan.
The PIL sought a CBI probe into Thackeray's alleged connection with the deaths of Salian and Rajput.
His plea said that the PIL lacks any element of public interest, and has been filed as a tool to settle personal grudges, propagate false propaganda, and gain political mileage, particularly in light of the impending Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.
Aditya has filed the petition just before the ensuing Loksabha and Vidhan Sabha Elections, probably with a view to once again give rise to media trials carried out by some news Anchors having personal vendetta against the intervener (Aditya), the plea said.
"The PIL has personal vendetta against his family members as well as to enable the leaders of the BJP to once again resort to make false, frivolous and baseless allegations against him and his family members with mala fide intention to cause prejudice in the minds of the general public and score political mileage against political rival," Aditya claimed in his petition.
The application said that the allegations have an adverse impact on Thackeray's reputation as he is a former Cabinet Minister of Maharashtra, and he is seeking to intervene to counter the allegations against him and his family members.
The contentions in the PIL are based on false and malicious allegations made against him and his family members by BJP leader and Cabinet Minister Narayan Rane and Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic Media Network, the application states. The application claims that Rane and Goswami are targeting him as they were arrested for illegal activities when his father, former CM Uddhav Thackeray was in power.
Aditya's plea also said that the probe into the deaths of Rajput and Salian have already been thoroughly conducted by the CBI, Maharashtra and Bihar Police, rendering the PIL redundant and unnecessary.
