Supreme Court grants BJP MLA Nitesh Rane protection from arrest for 10 days in attempt to murder case

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted Nitesh Rane, member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and son of Union Minister Narayan Rane, protection from arrest for 10 days in an attempt to murder case..The Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli disposed of the appeal filed by Rane against a Bombay High Court order which had rejected his anticipatory bail plea..Appearing for Rane, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued,"[It is] a completely cooked up case on the eve of an election to the District Cooperative Bank. I am a sitting MLA. The complainant is a person belonging to the opposite party. The allegation is that the complainant was stabbed by a paper cutter."CJI Ramana intervened and said,"Why don't you surrender and go in for regular bail? Mr. Singhvi, you are appearing for State? What is all this? Political virus again?".Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the State of Maharashtra, said that Rane ought to apply for regular bail in this case. "Custody is required not just for recovery but for interrogation as to conspiracy, money exchanged, all of it," he added..While disposing of the matter, the Court directed the MLA to appear before the concerned court. In the interim, he will not be arrested for 10 days, it directed..Rane, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, has been accused of being the main conspirator behind the attempt on the life of 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 before the Bombay High Court stated that the FIR in the case was registered against him was possibly because he had mocked Shiv Sena leader and State Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray.It was also 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..The High Court had rejected his anticipatory bail plea on January 17. While doing so, it had extended the assurance given by the Maharashtra government that no coercive action would be taken against Rane till January 27, 2022. Aggrieved by this order, Rane approached the Supreme Court in appeal..Nitesh Rane moves Supreme Court against Bombay HC order dismissing anticipatory bail plea in attempt to murder case