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ShareMumbai: A minor typo in a Bombay high court order passed in February enabled the Shiv Sena-BJP-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to restart the politics of Marathi signboards last week. A BMC order dated October 29 stated that all shops and establishments must use Marathi in big fonts, with the English script coming next and in smaller size.
On Friday, the HC rectified its order, thus maintaining an earlier stay on the implementation of an amendment to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act that sought to penalise shopkeepers who didn't display signboards in big, bold Marathi fonts.
Though the petition filed by the Federation of Retail Traders' Welfare Association challenging the amendment was already before the high court, traders had filed a notice of motion in February when the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena started a violent agitation against them.
The high court had, at the time, disposed of the notice of motion and passed an order which said: "Petition (filed in 2001) and Notice of Motion disposed of. Interim orders don't survive". What the court meant was that the 'notice of motion had been disposed of'. The usage of the word 'petition' seemed to suggest that the entire case had been disposed of when it had not even been argued. "We realised the error only after the BMC issued a fresh circular on October 29 to implement the amendment," said Viren Shah, president of the traders' association.
On Friday, BMC's counsel, KK Singhvi, didn't oppose the clarification and the court corrected its earlier order and restored the petition, maintaining status quo - that is the stay on the implementation of the amendment.
Acting municipal commissioner RA Rajeev said the BMC would decide its course of action after studying the new order in detail.
