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Synopsis

A magistrate court in Raigad district of Maharashtra recently discharged Union Minister Narayan Rane in a case over the ‘slap’ remark made by him against Uddhav Thackeray.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Raigad-Alibag observed that the remark against former CM Uddhav Thackeray was unparliamentary but it didn’t amount to criminal intimidation or promoting enmity between the two groups.

The court said that Rane being an influential figure in the political arena was aware of the outcome of his “unparliamentary” remark made in 2021 against the then CM of Maharashtra, but it didn’t amount to promoting enmity under provisions of law as he didn’t target any community.

In August 2021, during his Jan Aashirwad Yatra in Raigad, Rane had said that he would have slapped Uddhav Thackeray, alleging that the then CM forgot the year of independence during his Independence Day address.

The complaint was filed at Mahad in Raigad district of Maharashtra by a resident there under Sections 153-A (1-b) (promoting enmity between different groups), 505(2) (statements conducive to public mischief), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Rane was arrested by the police after the registration of the complaint and was granted bail by the court. In December 2022, he applied for discharge, which was opposed by the prosecution.

The court noted that Thackeray had not registered the complaint, but it was done by someone else. The magistrate said that the complainant was not the person who hae been insulted and provoked to breach the public peace or to commit an offence, therefore, he was not aggrieved person, within the meaning of Section 504 of the IPC.

The CJM observed that Rane did not refer to any community in his statement, and the informant was not an aggrieved person. The CJM further said that there was no targeted group in Rane’s remark and hence basic ingredients of Section 153A and Section 505(2) IPC were missing.

"The statement made by the accused can be said as controversial and politically insensitive which is not expected from a person who holds the post of Union Minister,” the CJM concluded.

Case Title: State of Maharashtra vs. Narayan Tatya Rane