Mumbai : The Bombay High Court Tuesday asked Maharashtra government to inform by August 6 under what authority it had ordered a ban since 2007 on visit to the tomb of Afzal Khan, who had served the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur as commander, at Pratapgarh fort in Satara district.
Afzal Khan was killed by Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji near Pratapgarh Fort and a tomb had been built there in his memory. A controversy had erupted after the government imposed a ban on visit to the tomb in 2007.
A bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka was hearing a petition filed by ‘Maharashtra Lokarpan’, a magazine, through its editor Farid Daware, seeking to lift the ban on visit to Afzal Khan’s tomb.
Government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani informed the court that in 2007 the Superintendent of Police of Satara district had submitted a report to the Home department stating there was a possibility of a law and order problem occurring in the area and hence the government had imposed a ban on the visit to Afzal Khan’s tomb.
However, the court asked the government to file an affidavit within a fortnight stating under what authority it had put a ban on the visitors going to the tomb. -PTI
