Mumbai:-The Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that no coercive action will be taken against Union Minister Narayan Rane till September 17 in the FIR lodged by Nashik police in the ‘slap slur’ against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
The submission came in a plea filed by Rane seeking to quash the Nashik FIR and all other cases that may be lodged in future, and interim protection from arrest, which came up for hearing before a division bench of Justice S.S. Shinde and Justice N.J. Jamdar.
Rane’s lawyers Satish Maneshinde and Aniket Nikam sought protection in all other cases that may arise out of the Union Minister’s statement of August 23.
Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for the state government, said that no coercive actions will be initiated against Rane in the Nashik FIR till the next hearing on September 17.
However, Desai said a blanket statement on protections could not be made as Rane’s petition mentions only the Nashik FIR, after which the latter’s team said they would amend the plea with all the details.
Rane was arrested on Tuesday afternoon in Ratnagiri for his utterances against CM Thackeray and was produced before the Mahad court in Raigad late last night.
Mahad Judicial Magistrate First Class S.S. Patil, while saying the arrest was justified, sent him to magisterial custodial remand till September 4, and later granted conditional bail to Rane.
Rane arrest: BJP wants CBI probe into Sena minister’s ‘complicity’
Maharashtra BJP on Wednesday demanded a CBI probe into the alleged ‘connivance’ of Shiv Sena’s Transport Minister Anil Parab into the arrest of Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane after a purported video clip went viral social media.
BJP legislator Ashish Shelar said the Sena minister was heard telling someone over phone that Rane’s bail plea would be rejected, hours before it actually happened, while chairing a meeting of Ratnagiri District Planning and Development Council.
“We demand a CBI probe as Parab exerted pressure and was heard telling somebody that the Union minister’s bail appeal would be declined. How did he know about something before the process started in the sessions court? All the phone calls of Parab and IPS officers should be unraveled,” Shelar demanded.
Showing the video clip, he said that at around 1 pm on Tuesday, Parab was informing someone of the sessions court matter where Rane’s plea was rejected only after three hours.
“This is very suspicious. It raises questions over the government’s intentions behind arresting a Union minister like this. We demand a CBI probe into the matter,” Shelar said.
He added that Parab’s actions were a slur on the judiciary and were intended to pressurise the IPS officers, especially when the home department is with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
It may be recalled that Rane was arrested on Tuesday afternoon from Ratnagiri for his utterances against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and was produced before the Mahad Court in Raigad late on Tuesday night.
The Mahad Court Judicial Magistrate, S.S. Patil, while saying the arrest was justified, sent Rane to magisterial custodial remand till September 4, before granting conditional bail to Rane.