Mumbai, Jan 20 (Reporter) A group of law students challenged the Maharashtra government's decision to declare January 22 as a state holiday on the occasion of the consecration of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. A special bench comprising Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale has been constituted, which will hear the plea on Sunday, January 21 at 10.30 am. The Maharashtra government issued a notification on January 19, declaring a state holiday on January 22, 2024. An application was moved on Saturday before the High Court registry seeking an urgent hearing of the Petition. The plea, filed by four law students, Shivangi Agarwal, Satyajeet Salve, Vedant Agarwal, and Khushi Bangia, contends that the government’s decision to declare a public holiday, keeping the ensuing parliamentary elections in mind, was a “gross abuse of power for political purposes." They have also challenged the notification issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on May 8, 1968, that empowered the states to exercise powers under the Negotiable Instruments Act to declare public holidays...////...