The Bombay High Court on Tuesday pulled up Jaidev Thackeray for delaying the proceedings in the suit, challenging the Will of Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray. The HC has asked him and his brother Uddhav, to complete the examination of all the witnesses in the case by May 3.

A single-judge bench of Justice Gautam Patel even directed Jaidev, the estranged son of Bal Thackeray, to pay Rs 7,500 each to two scribes, who were present before the court to depose in the case. The court also directed Jaidev to pay off fare of the air tickets to another scribe, who had came from another state, only to depose in the case.

The three journalists, appeared in the court on Tuesday and were testified by the advocate representing Jaidev. The basic objective of summoning these scribes was to establish that Jaidev shared a cordial relation with his estranged father. These were the scribes, working in a national daily, who had reported a news claiming Jaidev had paid a visit to Bal Thackeray, when the latter was admitted in a city’s hospital.

However, nothing ‘productive’ came from the examination, following which Jaidev’s advocates urged Justice Patel to summon another scribe, who had interviewed Balasaheb. Irked by this prayer, Justice Patel said, “You should instead focus on some other things to establish your relations with your father. Journalists cannot prove how cordial were the relations between you and your father.”

“Also, it is seen you are delaying the matter and if this is the approach, I fear the matter would not be concluded even after 25 years. But let me clarify, I would not let you do so and will ensure the matter is decided at the earliest,” the court added. Accordingly, the court directed the parties to complete the testimony of witnesses by May 3, so that the matter can be taken up for final hearing. The matter would be next heard on March 13.

As carried in  F