Union Minister Narayan Rane’s MLA son Nitesh Rane has approached the Bombay High Court for anticipatory bail in an attempt to murder case against him. Rane’s application will be heard on December 4.
Rane’s anticipatory bail application (ABA) was rejected by the Sindhudurg Sessions Court last week. Rane’s lawyers RV Raorane and Sangram Desai had argued that he had no concern with the alleged crime and that he and another accused, Sandesh alias Gotya Sawant, were implicated out of political rivalry.
Desai had also argued that the arrest of Rane and Sawant would violate their personal liberty and prevent them from canvassing their panel in Sindhudurg District Central CoOp Bank’s election which was to be held on December 30.
According to the prosecution, a man was dashed by an Innova car which did not have a registration number plate. Due to the accident, the man was dragged for 50 feet and sustained injuries on his right hand. The man’s complaint states that one person alighted from the vehicle and assaulted him by a sharp object on his chest twice and also uttered that Nitesh Rane and Gotya Sawant were required to be intimated about the incident. The incident took place on December 18 at about 11 am on the Kankavli Nardave road. The police seized the vehicle, weapons and mobile handsets and also arrested a few accused.
Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat had argued that the accused are not co-operating with the police and that some mobile phones are yet to be seized from Rane. Gharat stressed that there was a probability of tampering of evidence and mobile phone data by Rane. Gharat had shown photographs of another accused in the case with Nitesh Rane and Narayan Rane in a vanity van.
Gharat added that Nitesh Rane’s and the other accused’s CDR (Call Detail Record) and IPDR (Internet Protocol Detail Record) matched. Gharat had argued that Rane’s custody was required in order to “find out his participation in economical/political crime,” and for further investigation. Gharat had pointed to the injury marks on the complainant to show the gravity of the case.
Desai had further argued that there is only one abrasion caused to the injured due to fall and dragging. He further submitted, the complainant did not mention anything about enmity with Rane in the FIR and Shiv Sena leaders Satish Sawant, Vaibhav Naik visited the injured and this suggested the probability of false implication.
He had even stated that Rane’s arrest was probably due to the “Meow Meow” comment when Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray had walked by during the recent Assembly session. Desai had further submitted that the Shiv Sena had threatened to hold a march for Rane’s non-arrest and that there is no call record between Rane and the arrested accused or other absconding accused at the time of the alleged incident.
Judge SV Hande while rejecting the anticipatory bail application, said that Rane and Sawant had “failed to prove a case for grant of anticipatory bail as custodial investigation of applicants (Rane and Sawant) was called for in order to seize the vanity van, mobiles.”
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Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bombay-high-court-nitesh-rane-anticipatory-bail-1895500-2022-01-03
