Nilesh withdraws pre-arrest bail plea, to surrender by 23rd May

Former Congress MP Nilesh Rane, son of former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane, on Tuesday withdrew his pre-arrest bail application from the Bombay high court and assured it that he would surrender before the investigating agency by May 23. Nilesh withdrew his anticipatory bail plea after the high court judge said that he is inclined to reject the application as the matter is of a sensitive nature.

Advocate Rajendra Shirodkar, on Nilesh’s behalf, argued before the court that there was a considerable delay in filing of the FIR, which shows that the case was false, and there was nothing to be recovered from the applicant. He further claimed that even the police had made a statement before the trial court around 12 days ago that it would file the chargesheet within 8 to 10 days, which means that the investigation was over and there was no justification as to why the police needed Nilesh’s custody.

Mr Shirodkar had also told the court that all the arrested accused had been remanded to judicial custody, which means the magistrate was of the view that their further police custody was not required. Also, the kind of injuries the victim, Sandeep Sawant, has received falsifies the allegations that he was brutally beaten up with hockey sticks, claimed Mr Shirodkar. He further pointed out to the court that there are injuries on body that could be result of either falling or by punches. According to him, the injuries on the body would have been more severe had the complainant been beaten up with a hockey stick.

Another argument put forth by Nilesh’s lawyer was that police is claiming that the applicant’s father (Narayan Rane) is an influential person and he had visited the victim in the hospital. The truth, however, Mr Shirodkar claimed, was that Sawant’s family had friendly relations with the applicant’s family and the complainant had called Mr Rane to hospital. He also argued that the police has not claimed that Mr Rane threatened the witness when he had gone to meet the complainant. Also, there have been no claims that any witness has been threatened so there is no need to send the applicant into custody.

On the other hand, public prosecutor Arfan Sait opposed the bail plea saying the medical records show that the victim received injuries on the head and it could be result of an assault with a hockey stick. He further told the court that the victim was admitted to a hospital for 10 days because of the assault.

Speaking about the kidnapping part, Mr Sait said that there are records of phone calls from the victim’s wife’s cellphone to the brother and mother of the accused, which corroborates with the kidnapping part because she had told them that Nilesh has forcefully taken her husband away in a car and they had assured her that he would return safely. Mr Sait also said that a luxury car was used to kidnap the victim and the car is yet to be recovered and there are also witnesses who saw the victim being pushed into the car but as they fear the accused, they are hesitant about testifying against him in court and hence Nilesh should not be granted pre-arrest bail.

After hearing arguments, Justice A.S. Gadkari observed that considering the material on record and the seriousness of the matter he did not think the case was fit to grant a pre-arrest bail. Following this observation the Nilesh’s lawyer withdrew the bail application and assured the court that the applicant would surrender before the investigating agency in Chiplun by May 23.