Bombay HC nod for State honour for historian

MUMBAI: Bombay High Court on Wednesday cleared the decks for conferring Maharashtra's highest award on historian Babasaheb Purandare after it dismissed a public interest litigation which questioned his selection.
The court also slapped a cost of Rs 10,000 on the petitioners after noting that it did not conform to High Court Rules on PILs .
Purandare (93) will be conferred the Maharashtra Bhushan award by the governor at a function this evening at the Raj Bhavan.Purandare is renowned for his two works Raja Shiva Chatrapati and Janata Raja.
A bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice S B Shukre took note of acting advocate general Anil Singh's submission that it is a "policy decision" which was taken on the recommendation of a special committee constituted by a general resolution. Also, the decision taken by the committee on April 22 was widely published and the petition is filed deliberately now as a publicity stunt. Singh said the committee had held detailed discussion before unanimously selecting Purandare for the award. Singh said alongwith his work and performance, the suggestion to consider his age was also accepted by the committee. Singh urged for the PIL to be dismissed with heavy cost.
The petition filed by two agriculturists Padmakar Kamble and Rahul Pukale questioned the decision of the state to select Purandare as "arbitrary" and said it was done only considering his age and seniority. It also said a criteria pertaining to remarkable work in society for 20 years was not followed and questioned Purandare’s eligibility for the award.