Slap remark against Uddhav Thackeray: Narayan Rane moves HC against Dhule FIR after receiving police notice

Rane was arrested on August 24 last year, and later granted bail by the Mahad magistrate court. He had stoked a controversy after his August 23, 2021 statement in Raigad that he would have slapped the Maharashtra CM for “not knowing how many years it has been since India gained Independence”.

The Maharashtra government on September 30 had told the High Court that it has extended till further hearing its assurance of protection from coercive action to Rane in an FIR registered against him by Nashik Cyber Police. The assurance continues to operate till date. Besides Nashik, FIRs had been registered at Mahad, Thane, Pune, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar, against which Rane had approached the High Court last year.

“The statement by the government (pertaining to Nashik Cyber Police FIR) continued from time to time till date, shall continue to operate till listing of the matters for hearing,” the Court had noted on September 20.

A total of 10 cases had been registered against Narayan Rane based on complaints given by Shiv Sena workers regarding the same incident. These were at Pune, Pune rural, two FIRs in Nashik rural, Dhule, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Thane, Nashik and at Mahad in Raigad district, where the incident took place. The FIRs invoked Sections 153 (B) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 500 (criminal defamation), 505 (2) (intent to incite) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), among others.

In his plea filed through advocate Aniket Nikam, which was mentioned before the Court on Friday, Rane said that since he received notice from the Dhule Police last month, he filed a writ plea in the High Court. The plea sought to quash and set aside the Dhule FIR, and, pending hearing, sought interim protection from arrest to the petitioner in the said FIR.

A division bench led by Justice Prasanna B Varale is likely to hear the plea on April 17.