SAGNIK CHOWDHURY & SWATEE KHER

MUMBAI, MAY 5: As pressure mounts on Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to act against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, police and Home Department officials are worried that in his choice of words while launching a fresh verbal attack against north Indian migrants, he may have carefully dodged punishment.

Two days after Raj renewed his tirade at a huge rally in Shivaji Park to mark the second anniversary of his party — two days that the officials have spent poring over the speech’s transcript and playing and replaying it — they are no closer to deciding how to proceed against him.

“We have recorded Raj Thackeray’s speech and submitted a verbatim transcript of it to legal experts for their opinion. However, it looks as though Thackeray might have taken legal opinion on the contents of his speech this time,” a top police officer told The Indian Express.

“As far as using abusive language is concerned, it is not a cognisable offence. Moreover, he has worded his speech very cleverly, stopping short of making any new references,” the officer said. “He keeps stating what action he and his men will take if and when other people do something to provoke them. There are many ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ in the speech, which will make it hard to nail him.” For the record, Deshmukh, his deputy R R Patil and Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Ghafoor have all said that the state would act if legal experts found a watertight case. Said Patil: “I will not give a clean chit or carry out any politically motivated action against anyone before the investigation is over... There is a process involved, so some time will be taken.”

MNS spokesman Nitin Sardesai sidestepped the issue when asked if Raj had consulted lawyers before deciding what to say. Legal experts were consulted since MNS leaders had received notices and orders after the violence against migrants in February, but it was not specific to the speech, he told The Indian Express. Raj’s lawyer Sayaji Nagare refused to comment.

Political observers said that much of Raj’s speech was a reaffirmation of his opposition to migrants usurping opportunities and hurting the chances of Maharashtrians in Mumbai and elsewhere in the state.

Earlier, after his speech set off violence across the state, Raj had been arrested. He was later let off on bail with a gag order. Although the court, police and state human rights commission had warned him against inciting passions, the crucial difference this time is that his speech has not sparked violence, observers said.

Some legal experts were, however, not so sure if Raj could get away. Uday Warunjikar, a leading local lawyer said: “It is a question of evidence. What was the intention of the speaker? For alleging an offence there is material. A complaint under Section 153 is tenable, whatever he has said using ‘ifs’ and ‘thens’, this defensive language can attract a case.”

‘Raj Hitler, Cong making another Bhindranwale’

• Bihar’s ruling NDA and RJD seek the Centre’s intervention to rein in Raj Thackeray, saying his utterances are “detrimental to unity of the nation”. CM Nitish Kumar says “Thackeray must be controlled”, while Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi tells him to “mind your language”. Modi also accuses Congress of creating “yet another Bhindranwale for petty political gains”.

• Samajwadi Party MP Abu Asim Azmi announces setting up of a helpline for north Indians and proposes to start “self-defence” courses for them using lathis. He equates Raj with Adolf Hitler

• BJP accuses Raj of having just a one-point agenda of bashing north Indians, says it opposes his divisive agenda

editor@expressindia.com