Maharashtra gets notice on migrant protection

New Delhi: In wake of recent attacks on migrants in Mumbai, the Supreme Court Monday issued notice to the Maharashtra government on the protection of non-Maharashtrians in the state, even as it ruled out a judicial probe into the killing of Rahul Raj, a youth from Patna, who was shot dead by the Mumbai police after he hijacked a commuter bus at gunpoint last month.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan sought a reply from the state government in four weeks on the allegations that it had failed to take effective steps to check the violence, first during a railway recruitment examination and after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's arrest.

The court, however, dismissed a petition demanding that the cases against Thackeray be transferred outside Maharashtra, saying the state police should take appropriate action.

The court's notice was in response to a public suit seeking protection for non-Marathis.