67 cases against seer over Prophet Mohammed remarks, Bombay High Court told

The Maharashtra government submitted before the Bombay High Court that about 67 FIRs have been registered across the state against religious leader Mahant Ramgiri Maharaj over his alleged derogatory remarks against Islam and Prophet Mohammed at an event in Nashik.
The government further told the court on Monday that the objectionable material containing the alleged derogatory remarks, which was shared online, is being taken down by the cyber crime police.
Maharashtra Advocate General Dr Birendra Saraf made this submission while opposing a petition which sought registration of an FIR against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for sharing a stage with Ramgiri Maharaj after FIRs were registered against him.
The petition had been filed by advocate Mohammad Wasi Sayed and others, alleging that since 2014 there is “a steep rise in communal incidents and systematic Islamophobic customs are protected and conserved by the state and Union governments, thereby giving rise to mob-lynchings, riots, and boycotting of Muslims”.
Advocate Ejaz Naqvi on Monday, representing the petitioners, argued that instead of initiating action against Ramgiri Maharaj, Shinde shared a stage with him and made a statement that saints would be protected in the state.
Similarly, Naqvi pointed to inflammatory speeches delivered by BJP MLA Nitesh Rane as well, and that no action was taken against him.
However, the bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan, noted that petitions concerning taking down of Ramgiri Maharaj’s videos and registration of FIRs in instances of alleged hate speech by Rane are already being heard by it.
Regarding hate speech, the bench said, “We can’t stop them from giving speeches, but the police are taking action and registering FIRs wherever they can.”
“Just because they (Eknath Shinde and Ramgiri) are sharing a stage, it does not mean that FIR should be registered. You have to show malafides. If there is a breach, there are FIRs being registered. You (Naqvi) are making the issue political. When you digress from the core issue, then this is what happens. Your core issue is to take down videos.”
Saraf too opposed the plea by saying that FIRs against Ramgiri Maharaj were already registered and that till September 19, 67 FIRs had been registered.
Opposing the petition, Saraf said, “One cannot initiate proceedings like this,” and stressed that the Chief Minister’s name should be deleted from the list of respondents in the petition. The bench agreed and threatened to impose costs on the petitioners.
The bench directed Naqvi to modify his prayers and delete all the respondents except cyber police and local police officials. The bench said, “Police have a mechanism. They will deal with this.”
The bench will further hear the petition on October 17.