Union Minister Narayan Rane's arrest is under process by Ratnagiri Police for his 'slap' remark on Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. The police has taken Mr Rane into custody from Sangameshwar in Ratnagiri by Ratnagiri Police.
The Ratnagiri Sessions court has rejected Narayan Rane's plea in the matter. While, the Bombay High Court has also refused to grant urgent relief to Narayan Rane and asked his advocate to file petition in registry after the minister approached the high court seeking quashing of multiple FIRs filed against him for his remark.
However, when FPJ contacted Nashik Police Commissioner Deepak Pandey, he said "I had given orders to arrest Narayan Rane to my officers. Now since anticipatory bail of Rane has been rejected, he will be arrested. Our team will reach Ratnagiri by 5 pm. And once Rane s custody is taken, the team will inform me about the same."
The BJP leader also sought an interim order granting him protection from arrest or any coercive action.
The petition was mentioned before a division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar, seeking urgent hearing on Tuesday itself.
The developments came barely a couple of hours after Rane sharply dared that "nobody could do anything to him" or prevent him from "moving around freely".
A team of senior police officers met Rane and later completed the arrest formalities even as a large number of his supporters and a huge posse of police were present.
An aide to the central minister Pramod Jathar claimed that no arrest warrant has been produced and the police pleaded that they were under 'pressure' to arrest Rane.
Jathar added that "there is the rule of law" in the state but the police were not following the due protocols, not showing the arrest warrant or other documents for the same.
Rane had sparked off a row over his remarks about slapping Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray for what he claimed as the latter's ignorance of the year of India's independence.
"It is shameful that the chief minister does not know the year of independence. He leaned back to enquire about the count of years of independence during his speech. Had I been there, I would have given (him) a tight slap, Rane said during his 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra' in Raigad district on Monday.
The BJP leader and former Shiv Sena chief minister claimed Thackeray forgot the year of independence during his August 15 address to the people of the state. Thackeray had to check the year of independence with his aides midway during the speech that day, Rane said.
Following his remarks, a complaint was lodged against Rane by Nashik city Shiv Sena unit chief at the Cyber police station there.
Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered against Rane in Nashik under IPC sections 500 (defamation), 505(2) (mischief), 153-B (1)(c) (remarks likely to cause disharmony, or feeling of enmity or hatred or ill-will), a police official said.
Nashik Police Commissioner Deepak Pandey on Tuesday issued orders for the immediate arrest of Rane after an FIR was registered against him in the north Maharashtra city over his remarks against the CM.
(With agency inputs)
