In a relief for Union Minister Narayan Rane, a sessions court at Dhule granted him pre-arrest bail in the FIR registered against him for making derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last August.
Principal District judge R H Mohammad, on Tuesday, granted him anticipatory bail against Rs 15,000 surety. The union minister has been directed to cooperate with the investigation and attend the police station as and when called.
Five FIRs were filed against Rane at Mahad, Nashik, Pune, Thane, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar over his remark that he would have slapped Thackeray over the latter’s ignorance of the year of India’s independence. Rane had made the statement at a press conference in August 2021.
This is the first case, of the five cases, in which Rane has been given pre-arrest bail.
Rane’s advocate, Aniket Nikam, argued that 153 (B) Indian Penal Code was not applicable in the case as Rane had not appealed to any particular group or class of people to take law in their hands. He further argued that the state government has filed different FIR’s against Rane based on the same incident at different places.
Even the sections invoked are different at different places and hence all of this smacks of political malafides, argued Nikam.
Seeking relief Rane, Nikam argued that he is a cabinet minister and there is no question of him absconding or not being available. Besides, the police have never called him for questioning or investigation and now they are opposing the anticipatory bail, added Nikam.
Public prosecutor Sonanwane opposed the pre-arrest bail plea stating that they required his custody for the investigation purpose.
On April 22, the HC had granted relief to Rane in this case after the government said that the police were not willing to make a statement of not taking coercive steps against the minister.
While granting interim relief to Rane, HC said: “This is an interim protection. In the meanwhile, if you (Rane) apprehend arrest, you can seek appropriate legal remedies.”
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