HC dismisses Bhagwat’s petition

MUMBAI, Dec 9 (PTI) — The Mumbai High Court today dismissed the writ petition filed by sacked Navy chief Vishnu Bhagwat challenging his dismissal and seeking reinstatement because of “gross and unexplained delay” in filing the petition.Delivering the order, the Division Bench comprising Mr Justice A.P. Shah and Mr Justice S. Radhakrishnan upheld the preliminary objections raised by the Additional Solicitor General, Dr Dhananjay Chandrachud, regarding the inordinate delay in filing the petition.

Challenging the maintainability of the petition yesterday, the Additional Solicitor General stated that while the President had “withdrawn his pleasure” regarding the continuity of Mr Bhagwat in office on December 30, 1998, the petitioner had filed the petition only on June 30, 1999.

He argued that the petitioner had not moved the court before the date when his term would have expired in normal course though he was aware of it.

He also argued that the petition was not a bona fide one as it was motivated by “political reasons” and to serve “extraneous purposes.” The petitioner had turned to the electronic media, had waited for the elections and resorted to other forums before approaching the court, he told the court.

The court declined to accept the contention of the petitioner’s counsel and wife, Niloufer Bhagwat, that the delay was caused due to time taken in gathering documents.