HC grants Narayan Rane protection from arrest for two weeks
A division bench of justices Prasanna Varale and S M Modak directed police against taking any action against Rane
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday granted Union minister Narayan Rane interim protection from arrest for two weeks in connection with the case registered against him at Dhule for his alleged remarks against Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
A division bench of justices Prasanna Varale and S M Modak directed police against taking any action against Rane.
Cases have been registered against Rane in Mahad, Nashik, Pune, Thane, Jalgaon, and Ahmednagar districts for his “slap” remark against Thackeray. Rane approached the high court seeking the quashing of the case registered in Dhule.
Rane last year provoked outrage for saying he would have slapped Thackeray for not knowing how many years has India been independent. He has blamed political vendetta and vengeance for the cases registered against him.
In his plea, Rane said by no stretch of the imagination, it could be said that he promoted enmity between different groups or committed any act prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different groups, which disturbs or is likely to disturb public tranquillity.
The First Information Report registered against Rane in Dhule alleged his comments were defamatory and hateful and could have incited rivalries and differences among communities.
