The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has written a letter to the Mumbai Police on Monday asking it to register an FIR against Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray for using children during the recent 'Save Aarey' protest.
In a letter to Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar, the Commission registrar, Anu Chaudhary, has requested to register an FIR against the former Environment Minister of the State and to submit a copy of the FIR as well as statement of children within three days of receiving the letter.
The letter read, “A complaint was received from Dhrutiman Joshi, legal head, Sahyadri Rights Forum citing Twitter links alleging that Mr. Thackeray, president of Yuva Sena and president of Mumbai district football association, used children in the protest/political campaigns in so called “Save Aarey Protest” campaign. Through the said twitter link, the children are seen as part of the protest holding placards.”
The Commission stated, “It is taking cognisance of the matter under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act as the act is prima facie in contravention of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, Article 21 (Right to Life) and Article 23 (Right to Protection from forced labour) of the Indian Constitution as well as the Indian Penal Code.”
Mr. Thackeray had held a protest on July 10 and posted some photographs of the same on Twitter that showcased children holding placards. The group was protesting the decision by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to move the Metro car shed back to Aarey forest from Kanjurmarg.
On October 4, 2019, the Bombay High Court had paved the way for the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) to construct a car shed for Mumbai Metro Line 3 by upholding the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) tree authority to fell 2,646 trees from Aarey milk colony for which thousands of Mumbaikars had protested.
Former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had taken the decision to shift the Metro car shed out of Aarey forest to Kanjurmarg which the new government intends to reverse.
