Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) member and Congress Corporator Suresh Koparkar in a petition submitted that findings of the Commission clearly showed that Thackeray, Joshi, Madhukar Sarpotdar, Shiv Sena MP, and Subhash Desai, printer-publisher of party's mouthpiece Saamna

had committed various offences under Sections 153A, 153B, 295A and 505(1)(B)(C) read with 120(B) of IPC.

The petition also sought the court's direction to State Government for reviving old cases of 1993, filed against Thackeray and others under Section 153A (inciting communal passions) and other analogous Sections of IPC. Besides, the petition urged that the State Government should independentlyconsider the issue of granting sanction under Section 196 of CrPC for prosecution of these persons in high places.

This is the fourth public interest petition demanding action on Srikrishna Commission report. Other petitions have been filed by Maharashtra Minorities Front, Bombay Aman Committee and Tushar Gandhi, vice president of Samajwadi Party's city unit. They would come up for hearing on November 16 next before a Bench headed by the Chief Justice.

The petition submitted that the State Government had rejected the Commission report more so its findings on complicity of top Sena leadership in the riots. Besides, the chief minister had gone on record to say that the report was ``biased and anti-Hindu'' and that he would prefer to resign rather than order Thackeray's arrest.

``Such remark from a constitutional head of the State Government was a blatant assault on the judiciary and also a scandalous statement amounting to contempt of the court.'' The petition also mentioned about Thackeray making publicstatements condemning the Commission of inquiry.

The memorandum of action tabled by the State Government rejecting the Commission report was totally perverse, illegal and a shocking document reflecting the communal character of the State Government.

The petition prayed that Rs four crore was spent on the set up of the Commission that took five years to give its findings which indicated that more than 1,000 lives were lost due to intemperate language and speeches of Sena leaders who incited Shiv Sainiks to commit riots all over the city.

The petition pleaded that the court should take charge of records and documents pertaining to Srikrishna Commission which were lying with the State Government. Vital evidence in the form of interviews, government files, police records and newspaper clippings had been collected during the hearing of the Commission and it was likely that officers and ministers of the Sena-BJP government may tamper with it.