Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 25: The arrest of the union minister Narayan Rane by the Maharashtra police has all the ingredients of it running into a long feud between the BJP and the Shiv Sena though he secured bail granted by a Mahad court even after the judge held his detention “justified.”
Rane was released by the court late on Tuesday night hours after he was put under arrest for using derogatory remarks against the Maharashtra chief minister and the Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray during a “Jan Ashirwad Yatra” the previous day. The judicial magistrate SS Patil held his arrest “justified” but granted him bail on a surety of Rs 15,000 on the ground that there was no need for his “custodial interrogation.”
The union minister, however, will not have immediate respite as he has been asked to appear before the police in Nashik on September 2 on a similar complaint. One of the four FIRs against Narayan Rane has been filed in Nashik. The notice issued late Tuesday night asks the minister to “appear at 12 noon” next Thursday.
The bail order issued by the Mahad court said Rane “should not commit a similar type of offence” and should not tamper with evidence or “directly or indirectly make an inducement threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case”.
The Mahad court while granting Rane bail cautioned him against committing such offence in future though the union minister had earlier refused to give a similar promise to his lawyer, who had given him the same advice, on grounds of his personal liberty and freedom of expression.
The copy of the Mahad court order was made available on Wednesday. The magistrate noted that “considering the reasons for arrest and other reasons, I found that the arrest is justified” but said though some of the sections applied against him were non-bailable, they were not punishable with life or death. “Considering these factors, no prejudice would be caused to the prosecution if the accused is released on bail,” the court said, adding that “the accused shall not commit a similar type of offence.”
Rane was arrested on Tuesday afternoon from Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra following his remarks that he would have slapped Chief Minister Thackeray for what he claimed as the latter’s ignorance of the year of India’s independence.
The police sought his custody for seven days, which the court refused and remanded him to judicial custody till September 4. Rane’s advocates then moved a bail application. The plea was heard immediately and Rane was granted bail on a surety of ₹15,000. He was directed to appear at the office of Superintendent of Police in Alibaug (Raigad) on August 30 and September 13.
Rane’s lawyers opposed his custodial interrogation stating that since the punishment on charges invoked against him is not more than three years, the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court on arrest in such cases should be followed.
His advocate Rajendra Shirodkar argued that the police had not followed the mandate of law laid down under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which says in cases where arrest is not warranted, the police ought to first issue a notice/summons to the accused for questioning.
However, the court in its order noted that in this particular section there are grounds given when the police officer can arrest a person without notice/summons.
The Magistrate, while refusing to grant Rane’s custody to the police, noted that the alleged statement of the accused (Rane) was made before the media.
“The informant [complainant in the case] himself alleged in the FIR that the accused made the statement before the media and it was viral on social media. Considering the nature of the offence, I do not find it necessary to hand over the accused in police custody,” the Magistrate said in the order.
While arguing on Rane’s bail plea, Shirodkar told the court that the accused was a senior citizen with roots in the society and hence, would not abscond. He further told the court that he had advised his client (Rane) not to make such statements in public in future, but Rane did not concede to such an undertaking quoting his liberty.
The police opposed the bail plea arguing that the accused was a Union cabinet minister and was making such irresponsible statements which would create disharmony in the society.
The court in its order directed Rane to cooperate with the probe into the case and if police want a voice sample of the minister, then he (Rane) shall assist. “The only rider is that the police shall give seven-day prior notice to the accused,” it said.
The court also noted that the police had not followed directions given by the Bombay High Court with regard to maintaining a proper case diary.
“Admittedly, the case diary produced before me are two papers which are not paginated,” the Magistrate said. Rane faces four FIRs in Maharashtra over his remarks, which triggered a political row and protests across the state on Tuesday.
The FIR at Mahad was registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 189 (threat of injury to public servant), 504 (intentional insult to provoke break of public peace) and 505 (statements conducive to public mischief).
The Maharashtra police had sought seven-day police custody for the BJP leader saying it was important to investigate if there was a conspiracy to tarnish the reputation of the Maharashtra Chief Minister.
Rane, 69, was arrested over his controversial comment on Uddhav Thackeray at a public meeting on Monday during his “Jan Ashirwad Yatra”.
The BJP leader claimed that the Chief Minister forgot the year of independence during his August 15 address and had to check with his aide mid-speech.
“It is shameful that the Chief Minister does not know the year of independence. He leaned back to ask about the count of years of independence during his speech. Had I been there, I would have given him a tight slap,” Rane said in remarks that sparked huge Shiv Sena protests.
Rane held a meeting with his legal team on Wednesday morning. Sources say he may approach the Bombay High Court with a request to scrap the FIRs against him. Shiv Sena workers filed cases against him in Pune, Nashik, Thane and Mahad listing offences like threatening a public servant, criminal intimidation and breach of peace.
The police had placed Rane under arrest after his transit anticipatory bail application was rejected by the Ratnagiri sessions court earlier in the day. The Bombay High Court too had refused to grant him anticipatory bail asking him to follow the due procedure. Rane had no complaint of ill-treatment by the police when asked by the court.
Though Rane’s uncalled for offensive remarks against Uddhav has put the BJP in the defensive with the party leaders’ distancing themselves from his remarks, the party has made viral on the social media a 2018 comment by Thackeray against the Uttar Pradesh chief minister to add fuel to the fire.
Thackeray is heard in the video talking about hitting Yogi Adityanath with slippers. How is that any different from Rane’s comment on slapping Thackeray, BJP leaders question.
“How can he be a Chief Minister? He is a yogi so he should give up everything and sit in a cave – he sits in the chief minister’s chair and calls himself a yogi. He has to understand the ties between UP and Maharashtra. A priest from UP, Gagabhatt, came for Shivaji’s coronation. And this Yogi came like a balloon filled with air. He wore chappals (slippers) while garlanding Shivaji. I felt like hitting him with the same chappal. Who are you to even stand before a statue of Maharaj?” video showed Thackeray commenting.
Many on social media called out the Chief Minister and his Shiv Sena for “hypocrisy” and urged Yogi Adityanath to file a case against Thackeray over the three-year-old comment.
The Rane incident bringing the Shiv Sainiks on the streets against the BJP by and large have been welcomed by the Shiv Sena leadership because the muscle power exhibited by the Sena cadre heralded it as a return to the party’s core strength.
In state-wide protests and demonstrations, Shiv Sena cadres attacked BJP offices in several cities, raised slogans and even threw stones at some places. One BJP leader’s face was blackened.
The Sainiks have also vowed to not let Rane campaign in Mumbai during the upcoming civic elections. Shiv Sena leader Vinayak Raut, MP from Ratnagiri, said the party had been exercising restraint since coming to power in alliance with Congress and NCP, despite “provocations” from BJP. But Rane had crossed the line, he claimed.
“The chief minister himself was leading by example, showing restraint and patience despite being attacked without rhyme or reason. But Rane has crossed limits of decency. In such a situation, the Sainiks cannot keep quiet. And they have rightly come forth and expressed their anger in the way they could,” Raut said, adding that Sena’s “aggressive approach will always remain intact for the sake of the party and people of the state.”
Raut said he had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that Rane be sacked as a Union minister. “I had written a letter and sought an appointment for a meeting with the prime minister. I have also got an acknowledgement from the PM’s office today itself. The PMO said since the prime minister was busy, I should seek an appointment from the home minister. In my letter, I have pointed out that Rane, despite being a Union minister, was behaving irresponsibly by using objectionable language against the chief minister of a state and therefore, he should be either asked to resign or sacked”.
Kishore Tiwari, a local Shiv Sena leader, said Rane’s comments had “infused new energy” in the party. “The Shiv Sena leaders and workers had been quiet for a long time as the party was in power in the state. Even during the Sushant Sigh Rajput’s case when attempts were being made to drag Aditya Thackeray’s name and challenge Uddhav Thackeray, the party had kept quiet,” he claimed.
He said it was time for the party workers to go after the big leaders of the BJP. “I don’t approve of things like blackening the face of little-known BJP leaders.”
Former MP Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil said Rane had “stooped low” in attacking the chief minister. “Uddhav Thackeray is Maharashtra’s CM as well as our party chief. If anyone tries to humiliate our supreme leader, this is how the Sainiks will respond… Sainiks in aggressive mode augurs well for the party. The image of Shiv Sena in the minds of ordinary people is of an aggressive party which will always rush forth to provide them justice,” he said.
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said Shiv Sena was behaving like a mafia. “Only five days back, my car was attacked with stones. Last year, even a retired Naval officer was attacked. And today they attacked BJP offices. Sainiks are indulging in this goonda-giri because they know some of their leaders will be arrested for corruption. At least four leaders will soon be arrested and then it will be the turn of some more Sena leaders. The Sena is part of a corrupt regime and it is trying to protect itself by indulging in such behaviour,” he said.
The Congress, however, coming to the defence of its alliance partner Shiv Sena said it was the BJP that was indulging in goonda-giri. “The BJP is using two Union ministers to do goondaism. It was Union minister Raosaheb Danve who had made an objectionable statement last week against party leader Rahul Gandhi and now Rane has stooped low while attacking the chief minister. BJP is doing all these deliberately in a bid to create trouble in Maharashtra and impose President’s rule. The BJP has been making all attempts to dislodge the MVA government and Rane’s comment is another example of the party’s devious design,” Congress spokesman Gopal Tiwari said.
Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “If anybody tries to run down Shiv Sena and its chief minister, then the Sainiks will give a befitting reply. We will not unnecessarily target anyone unless he tries to insult our party and its top leader. The anger of Sainiks reflects their love and respect for the party chief.”
