Narayan Rane (File)Union Minister Narayan Rane was granted anticipatory bail by a court in Dhule on Tuesday in connection with a complaint filed over the “slap” remark he made against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last August.
Last month, the Bombay High Court had granted the BJP leader two weeks of protection from arrest while hearing his plea seeking that the FIR lodged against him in Dhule be quashed.
Lawyer Aniket Nikam, representing Rane, told the court that multiple FIRs were filed against the minister in connection to the same incident, which shows that the complaints were filed with “political mala fide”. He added that while the investigation officer never called Rane for probe, the police were opposing his pre-arrest bail plea.
The Dhule court allowed the plea while asking Rane to pay a surety of Rs 15,000. It also imposed certain conditions on him, including that he has to visit the police station as and when called.
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On August 23, 2021, Rane had said in Raigad that he would have slapped the chief minister for “not knowing how many years it has been since India gained Independence”.
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