Erstwhile Cong govt's dossier on Sanatan was unbiased: Chavan

The dossier sent to the Centre in 2012 by the then Congress-led Maharashtra government on the activities of right wing Sanatan Sanstha was "unbiased", as it was based on a ATS report, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said here today.

Chavan, who had served as CM during November 2010 to September 2014, said his government had sent a proposal to ban the Sanstha in 2011 and followed it up with a 1000-page dossier detailing the activities of the radical outfit in 2012.

He said the dossier was "without any prejudice" and was based on a report prepared by the state ATS on activities of the Sanstha.

"The proposal (to ban the Sanstha) was sent to the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in 2011, much before the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar," Chavan said in a statement.

The proposal was not a sudden reaction to any incident, but was a well-considered and well-prepared report reflecting the work done by (ATS) officials in relation to the organisation (Sanstha), he said.

Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune in August 2013. The CBI had arrested Veerendra Tawde, an alleged activist of a Sanstha offshoot, in connection with the killing in 2016.

The central probe agency had last week arrested one Sachin Andure, suspected to be the main shooter, in the murder case. The CBI suspects that Andure is a radical Hindutva activist.

Chavan said a sessions court in 2011 had convicted (two) workers of the Sanstha for triggering a low-intensity blast in suburban Thane in 2008. Eight people were injured in the incident.

"The convicts were sentenced to imprisonment for 14 years," the senior Congress leader said.

The ATS had submitted a report seeking ban on the Sanstha to the state government in 2011, following which the proposal was sent to the Centre, he said.

He said a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) was filed in the Bombay High Court in September 2011 seeking ban on the Sanstha in which the state and Central governments were made parties.

The government stuck to its stand in the HC that the Sanstha should be banned.

"Our government had had a very clear view on the social intolerance, religious hatred and violence being propagated by the Sanstha," he said.

Chavan said a debate over a "regressive and progressive school of thought" is not new to Maharashtra.

"Current rise in public outrage and violence is a matter of concern for Maharashtra," he said.

Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir (BJP) had yesterday said the Centre did not have "complete information" on any proposal from the Maharashtra government to ban the Sanstha.

Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Deepak Kesarkar had reportedly said the state government had sent a proposal to the Central government seeking ban on the outfit.