FPJ Legal: Bombay HC closes matter for orders on Nitesh Rane's plea for anticipatory bail

The Bombay High Court on Thursday reserved it's orders on a plea filed by MLA Nitesh Rane, seeking pre-arrest bail as he apprehends his arrest in an attempt to murder case. The HC is likely to pronounce it's orders on Monday and till then, Nitesh, the son of Union minister Narayan Rane won't be arrested.

A bench of Justice Chandrakant Bhadang reserved it's orders after hearing arguments of senior counsel Ashok Mundargi and advocate Niteen Pradhan, appearing for Rane and advocate Sudeep Pasbola, the special public prosecutor in the case.

Notably, Nitesh, who represents the Kankavali Assembly seat in Sindhudurg district, had approached the bench seeking pre-arrest bail in connection with an attack on one Santosh Parab. He had approached the HC after a sessions court in Sindhudurg rejected his plea in December 2021. He is alleged to have assaulted the complainant and dragged him.

In his defense Rane has claimed there is malice in the investigation “for ulterior political motives and the outcome of some lampooning outside Vidhan Bhavan on December 23, 2021”.

Advocate Pradhan argued the FIR was outcome of the “lampooning” incident outside the Vidhan Bhavan in December. “The lampooning incident hurt the ruling political party so much that they filed the FIR,” the counsel argued.

Further, Nitesh has relied upon the remand orders of the lower court in Sindhudurg, which has taken note of the "simple nature of the injuries" sustained by the complainant.

”This falsifies the complainant’s allegations of he 'being dragged' which “is an afterthought," the counsel argued.