India, Oct. 7 -- Defending the constitutional validity of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, 2025, enacted to curb the activities of "left-wing extremist" organisations, the Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court that the petitioners-the Indian National Congress, the Communist Party of India, and the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)-cannot challenge the legislation merely out of "curiosity or for academic exercise" and must demonstrate a real grievance or legal injury.

In its affidavit before the court, the state argued that the legislation cannot be decided "in vacuum", contending that the petitioners have neither claimed that the legislature lacked competence to enact such a law nor demonstrated any legal inj...