Bombay High Court dismisses anticipatory bail plea of BJP MLA Nitesh Rane in attempt to murder case

The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed the anticipatory bail filed by Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Nitesh Rane and son of Union Minister Narayan Rane in an attempt to murder case. .The order was pronounced by Justice CV Bhadang who also extended the assurance by the Maharashtra government of no coercive action against Rane till January 27, 2022 in order to enable Rane to approach the Supreme Court..Rane, a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, has been accused of being the main conspirator behind the attempt to murder incident against a Shiv Sena member which allegedly took place on December 18, 2021, in the Kankavli region of Maharashtra.He approached the High Court after the Sindhudurg Sessions Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea..The plea filed by Rane stated that the FIR against Rane was possibly because he had allegedly mocked Shiv Sena leader and State Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray..Advocate Niteen Pradhan appearing for Rane, had argued that the FIR was registered with the sole aim of preventing Rane's participation in the Sindhudurg Co-operative Bank district elections that were to be held on December 30, 2021. He added that the delay in filing the FIR indicated the same..Pradhan informed the Court that Rane had been cooperating with the investigation and had appeared for recording of statements. He submitted that Rane was allowed to go home after an interrogation of 4 hours, but was on a subsequent date informed of a possible arrest, as a result of which the present plea was filed..Opposing the plea, special counsel Sudeep Pasbola apprised the Court that Rane had met with his close associate Sachin Satpute to show a photo the victim in the case, Santosh Parab, who had allegedly been bad mouthing Rane and his family including his father, Union Minister Narayan Rane..Rane had allegedly asked Satpute to assault Parab so as to terrorise him from speaking against his family.Pasbola informed the Court that as soon as co-accused Sachin Satpute had been arrested by the Delhi police, Rane and the other accused in Maharashtra had gone untraceable.The seized phones of the arrested accused had been sent for forensic analysis and the police was waiting for the report..During the hearing, Pasbola also informed the Court that the prosecution had circumstantial evidence to substantiate their case and they required Rane’s custody to complete the investigation.The prosecution wanted to uncover “who had paid for this contract killing attempt and how much was paid” Pasbola said.He emphasised that Rane was highly influential and had many cases registered against him. “Such kinds of persons who have repeatedly indulged in these kinds of crime to create terror in the mind of people, do not deserve indulgence and discretion of the court,” Pasbola said in conclusion.