Union minister Narayan Rane was on Tuesday night produced before a court at Mahad in Raigad district, some 160 km from Mumbai, after his arrest over controversial remarks against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Rane was produced before magistrate Shaikhbabaso Patil by the Mahad police.
His lawyer Aniket Nikam said they would be opposing the arrest and seeking bail. Nikam said the police had failed to follow due process of law before arresting Rane, a BJP leader. “A notice has to be issued under section 41A of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) before arresting someone in cases where custodial interrogation is not required,” he said.
Rane faces four FIRs across Maharashtra over his remark that he would have slapped Thackeray over the latter’s alleged ignorance of the year of India’s independence.
He was arrested on Tuesday afternoon by the Ratnagiri police and taken to Mahad in Raigad district.
The FIR at Mahad was registered under IPC sections 189 (threat of injury to public servant), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of public peace) and 505 (statements conducive to public mischief).
