"Sleeping" remark: BJP MLA Ashish Shelar moves Bombay High Court to quash case filed by Mumbai Mayor

BJP leader and member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Ashish Shelar has approached the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of a first information report (FIR) registered against him by the Mumbai Police based on a complaint by city Mayor and Shiv Sena leder Kishori Pednekar..Shelar had held a press conference regarding a cylinder blast that took place recently at a chawl in Mumbai's Worli, that claimed four lives including an infant. He had alleged improper medical treatment and a lack of facilities with regard to the incident.Aggrieved by the comments made by him at the press conference, Pednekar had filed a complaint stating that despite being public figure and a responsible individual, Shelar made derogatory remarks against her which carried double-meaning and outraged her modesty.Based on the complaint, the Mumbai Police booked Shelar under Sections 354A (sexually-coloured remark) and 509 (words or gestures insulting woman's modesty) of the Indian Penal Code..Shelar filed the present plea before the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR, which he stated wilfully and maliciously levelled allegations against him with the sole motive to tarnish his image and cause mental trauma..Shelar contended that in the press conference he had been urging various authorities to render medical services to the injured persons.He added that the conference had been held with respect to the “improper, irresponsible and insensitive governance” of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).He claimed to have promptly clarified that the term ‘sleeping’ used in the conference pertained to the lackadaisical manner in which the Mayor’s office was working despite such tragic incident having taken place.“The officials of the ruling party have been trying to unnecessarily amplify the said statement in furtherance of their agenda against earnest workers of the BJP,” the plea stated.He added that the registration of the present FIR is nothing but a result of the members of the ruling party “interpreting a simple word of Marathi and blowing the same out of proportion."Shelar’s plea stated that the “act of filing a false and malicious FIR is prima facie politically motivated, with the intention of causing a deterrence of soaking up against the government’s failures and dictatorship”.Shelar prayed for the High Court’s urgent indulgence as the “FIR is a blatant attempt to silence the voice of dissent raised by the opposition party vide BJP’s senior party leader and sitting MLA”..The plea filed through advocate Rizwan Merchant and Associates sought quashing of the FIR registered on the basis of the press conference.Till the pendency of the petition, the petitioner prayed for directions to the Mumbai Police to not take any coercive steps against him.