A court in Sindhudurg has sentenced Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane to one month in prison in connection with a 2019 incident in which he poured mud on an NHAI engineer, Prakash Shedekar. The court stated that lawmakers are not expected to take the law into their own hands, calling it 'an abuse of power'.
Along with the one-month jail term, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh, according to a report by Bar and Bench. Although Rane was found guilty, the court did not send him to jail immediately and instead allowed him time to appeal in a higher court, PTI stated.
In the incident, the son of former Union minister Narayan Rane was among 30 persons charged. While the court acquitted the others, Rane was found guilty under Section 504 of the Indian Penal Code (intentional insult meant to provoke a breach of public peace) and was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment.
'Not Suppose To Humiliate Or Insult...', Says Court
Additional Sessions Judge V S Deshmukh, in his verdict, stated, "Even though Rane intended to raise concerns about poor-quality work and public inconvenience, he was not supposed to humiliate or insult a public servant in public."
The judge also noted that if such incidents continue, public servants may not be able to perform their duties with dignity.
What is the case about?
On July 4, 2019, when Rane was with the Congress party, he had called NHAI sub-divisional engineer Prakash Shedekar to a bridge over the Gad River in Kankavli to inspect work on the Mumbai–Goa Highway.
Frustrated over the poor quality of the roadwork and waterlogging, he confronted the engineer and poured muddy water on Shedekar and forced him to walk through slush in public. The court, after reviewing the evidence, observed that the engineer held an important position in the NHAI and was publicly humiliated. "Despite that, he was made to walk through the muddy water in public. It would have certainly humiliated and insulted him," the court remarked as reported by PTI.
With inputs from PTI
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