The two most important decisions upholding women's rights were evident in the Haji Ali Dargah case, and the Shani Shingnapur case. In both, a strong case was made out to ensure that women were not denied entry to both places of worship, as well as to ensure Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution were not violated.
In 2016, the Bombay High Court decided on several important cases—from acquitting actor Salman Khan of all charges in the 2002 hit-and-run case, to allowing women entry to places of worship where they were barred earlier. The court took major decisions which had a monetary impact as well, such as shifting IPL cricket matches out of Maharashtra due to the drought-like situation in the state.
The two most important decisions upholding women's rights were evident in the Haji Ali Dargah case, and the Shani Shingnapur case. In both, a strong case was made out to ensure that women were not denied entry to both places of worship, as well as to ensure Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution were not violated.
In the case of allowing women to enter the Shani Shingnapur temple, the state government maintained that it would abide and implement the provisions of the Maharashtra Hindu Place of Worship (Entry Authorization) Act, 1956. In the case of allowing women to enter the Haji Ali sanctum, it was maintained that it was the duty of the state to uphold the Constitution; and right to worship under Article 25 is concerned only with essential and integral practice of religion.
The court also directed the government to properly implement noise pollution rules. The court issued a contempt notice against a former Additional Chief Secretary of the state home department for failing to procure decibel metres to be given to all police stations.
Another significant order by the court put a stop to the construction of illegal pandals on footpaths and roadways that forced citizens to walk on roads. The court held it was the fundamental right of every citizen to have clear footpaths and pathways. "No religion permits celebration of festival by breaching the law, we hope that no religion takes our orders as a restriction on celebration of festivals," said the court.
Heavy penalties were imposed on political parties for putting up political hoardings or banners across the city.
The court on several occasions pulled up the BMC for not attending to the pothole situation in the city. It rapped the civic body for its failure and set deadlines and forced it to start a public grievance mechanism. It even pulled up high-ranking civic officials in issuing road contracts to blacklisted contractors, who were given work to build bridges. The court stayed the progress of those bridges, and the civic chief initiated prosecution against officials, contractors and third party auditors.
The court also overturned the government's theory on the German Bakery blast. In a major embarrassment to the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad, the court set aside the death sentence handed to Himayat Baig, arrested in 2010, for his alleged involvement in the German Bakery bomb blast case in Pune. This apart, serious charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and criminal conspiracy were dropped while it upheld his conviction of life sentence for possession of RDX at his house.
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