India, Nov. 18 -- The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to respond to a plea seeking the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and the de-registration of his party over alleged hate speeches and violence against the Hindi-speaking community.

A division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad asked the state government and the ECI to file their responses to the plea in four weeks. It also directed the petitioner to remove words like "north Indians" and "south Indians" from the copy. "Adding 'hate speech' is enough. It is not necessary to add other adjectives to it," ...