Navi Mumbai police book woman counsellor under Atrocities Act

A case under the Atrocities Act has been registered by Navi Mumbai Police against a woman counsellor of a private university on the complaint of an office staffer an official said on WednesdayNo arrest has been made so far newswire PTI reported quoting the officialThe counsellor allegedly abused her woman colleague in the office of the varsity on December 1 and made casteist remarks on a trivial issue the official said quoting the FIRShe is booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code IPC Further investigation is on the official addedCan PIL be entertained only for highlighting alleged irregularities HC asks SomaiyaMeanwhile the Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked BJP leader Kirit Somaiya if it could entertain his PIL regarding a property owned by Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackerays wife merely because it claims to highlight alleged irregularitiesSomaiyas public interest litigation sought a courtmonitored investigation into a property owned by Thackerays wife Rashmi Thackeray at Alibaug in coastal Maharashtra It also sought that disclosure reports about the probe be submitted to the court periodicallyThe petition alleged that the property was constructed in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone rulesAlso read Mumbai Man held for stealing younger sisterrsquos mangalsutraWhen the plea came up before a division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor the court asked how could it grant such a reliefDisclose for what purpose If somebody has erred in law then there can be some action there could be consequences If an illegality is found then it can be punished or prosecuted Merely for highlighting irregularity petitions cannot be entertained the bench saidA petition for academic purposes without there being a cause can we entertain Chief Justice Upadhyaya askedSenior advocate Rajeev Kumar appearing for Somaiya said the courts intervention was needed to determine the true nature of illegalities and irregularitiesThe petition claimed that Somaiya wrote to the state and local authorities demanding action when the Uddhav Thackerayled Maha Vikas Aghadi government was in power in Maharashtra but no steps were taken by the authoritiesThe high court however pointed out that he had alternative legal remedies availableThe PIL will be further heard on January 17 2024 With inputs from agencies