Maharashtra Govt says no action against Union Min Narayan Rane till Sept 30 hearing in HC

The Maharashtra government said on Friday that no action will be taken against Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Narayan Rane until September 30. Narayan Rane was charged by the Nashik Cyber Police for making derogatory remarks against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. He was arrested by the police on August 24 for a statement that he made in Raigad, that he would have slapped the CM for being unaware of how many years the country has been independent. He was later released on bail.

Rane’s petition for the disposal of the FIRs was heard by the Bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar. As Rane’s counsel was seeking interim protection from the court in the FIRs, the Hight Court asked the counsel to file multiple petitions as the FIRs have been registered at Mahad, Thane, Pune, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar and other places. Justice Shinde said, “The FIRs are from different police stations of different jurisdictions. Let the challenge to each of the FIR be in separate petitions. It will be more convenient for the prosecution in taking instructions from each police station.”

Therefore, Rane’s counsels agreed to file separate petitions but still demanded protection in all FIRs registered against him till the petitions are filed. The court disagreed and said that they need to hear individual pleas and only then a decision can be made. Additional Public Prosecutor J P Yagnik said in the court that the petitioner, Narayan Rane, had said that he would completely cooperate with the Nashik Police in the investigation and must visit them for further questioning on September 25.

"Commissioner pressured by Shiv Sena"

Rane’s counsel agreed that their client will cooperate with the Nashik Police as the police station has sent the Union Minister a notice under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) asking him to appear. However, the meeting will be done through video-conferencing and not in person on September 25. Rane’s counsel also said that the Nashik Police Commissioner was being pressured by the Shiv Sena to pursue the case. The High Court will now hear Rane’s plea next on September 30, after the investigation by the Nashik Police Station.

(With PTI inputs)

Image: PTI