A local court has issued notices to MNS chief Raj Thackeray and four MLAs, who attacked SP legislator Abu Azmi for taking oath in Hindi in the Maharashtra assembly, on grounds that the incidence was a threat to national integration.
The notices were issued yesterday by Chief Judicial Magistrate R R Badodiya against Thackeray, Shishir Shinde, Ramesh Wanjale, Vasant Gite and Ram Kadam.
The MNS leaders were asked to appear before the court on December 14 for hearing on a petition filed by one Pukhraj Dashora.
Dashora in his petition said that he was hurt by the reports of MNS attack on Azmi and described it as a "gross insult to the national language and also an attack on national integration".
The Magistrate took cognizance of the petition under section 153 (a) of the IPC for promoting enmity among various groups on grounds of religion, language, place of birth, residence and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.
