Maharashtra and union government get four weeks to reply on Sanatan Sanstha ban

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday gave four weeks time to the state and union governments to file their replies related to the banning of the right wing organisation, Sanatan Sanstha. The Central government told the court till date it has not found any satisfactory material to declare Sanatan Sanstha a "terror outfit" under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and ban it.

Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Prakash Deu Naik were hearing a petition filed by Vijay Rokade, a resident of Raigad in 2011, that demanded a ban on the organization for its alleged involvement in several blast cases.

"Under what sections can be a Trust be banned?" questioned Justice Naresh Patil. To which Rokade's counsel J D Khairnar told the bench that under section 3 of UAPA, 1967, organizations can be banned for some time.

Sanjeev Punhalekar appearing for the Sanatan Sanstha, however, claimed that there was not a single case registered against the organization under UAPA.

The judges then asked the Union Government as to what it had done on the proposal of the state government recommending ban on the group till date. "We had received the proposal in 2011 from the Congress NCP government in state. But they had not given enough material to support their stand. We had written to the state in 2011 explaining why they required a ban and they did not revert after that with a satisfactory answer," said the counsel appearing for the Union Government.

When the judges repeated the question to the state government about the ban, their counsel asked for more time to revert back.