TNN
 
New Delhi, Nov 7: The Supreme Court on Monday will chart the course of action it will adopt on two PILs on violence against north Indians in Maharashtra, one seeking protection for the migrants and the other urging legal action against MNS chief Raj Thackeray.

While questions remain whether the Vilasrao Deshmukh government discharged its duties in protecting migrants from violence unleashed by MNS activists, the court appeared to focus on the Centre's role. Like on Tuesday, when it dealt with the first PIL, a Bench comprising Justices B N Agrawal, G S Singhvi and Aftab Alam on Thursday, asked petitioner advocate Sanjiv Kumar Singh to tell the court about the implications of Article 355 of the Constitution in the context of internal disturbance in a state.

The hints were loud that the court would look to fasten some accountability on the UPA government as Article 355 casts an obligation on the Centre to protect every state from "external aggression and internal disturbances".

The Bench also had some reservations to the PILs making repeated reference to migrants to Maharashtra from Bihar, Orissa and UP as north Indians. "We thought we are all Indians and equal citizens of this country. How does this north Indian classification come about?"the Bench asked. The question could be innocuous at first glance, but did convey the anguish of the court at the divisive forces classifying citizens according to regions.

PIL petitioner Singh tried to get some interim relief by telling the court that the postmortem report suggested that Rahul Raj was possibly shot at close range by Mumbai police. This required high-level judicial probe, he said.

The PIL, while seeking cancellation of bail granted to MNS chief Raj Thackeray in connection with the cases relating to assault of outsiders, requested transfer of all cases against Raj outside Maharashtra alleging that he was let off on bail despite pendency of non-bailable arrest warrants issued against him by a Jharkhand court.