MUMBAI, June 11 -- The Bombay Bar Association (BBA) has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Bombay High Court, seeking constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe instances of harassment, threats, intimidation and violence against retired Bombay high court judge Gautam S Patel and his family over his landmark 2024 judgement settling a dispute over the spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra community. The SIT must include sleuths from Maharashtra Police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and the court must issue directions for providing security to retired judges if the need arises, as there is no substantive law on the subject, the BBA said in its PIL. The association has also requested the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to take necessary measures to ensure the safety and protection of the retired judge and his family members residing outside India. The judgement that sparked a spate of attacks was delivered on April 23, 2024, when Justice (retd) Patel dismissed the Taher Fakhruddin-led Qutbi Bohra faction's suit challenging the elevation of Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin as the supreme leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community. After the court affirmed Syedna Saifuddin as the rightful 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq, the Fakhruddin faction filed an appeal before a division bench of the high court. As first reported in HT on June 8, justice Patel and his family have since faced multiple instances of threats and violence, the most recent being on June 5, when his daughter in London received an anonymous death threat letter. The assailants want the retired justice to retract the verdict, and upload a video on YouTube saying he was coerced into issuing the order. The PIL filed by the BBA says failure to address the issue adequately and promptly would diminish and weaken the majesty and dignity of constitutional courts and create fear in the minds of judicial officers....