Narayan Rane’s discharge plea in atrocities case rejected

Mumbai: The Mumbai sessions court on Thursday rejected a plea moved by former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane and two others in connection with a caste atrocities case filed against them. The plea stated that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was not applicable in the trio’s case.

Additional sessions judge G.O. Agarwal ruled, “For reasons separately recorded, the criminal revision application stands dismissed.” Former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Padmakar Walvi had filed a complaint against Mr Rane, former MLA Bala Nandgaonkar, and Ravi Shendge under sections of the IPC and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The trio allegedly abducted Mr Walvi in June 2002 in an attempt to topple the then Vilasrao Deshmukh-led Democratic Front (DF) government in Maharashtra.

In his statement, Mr Walvi said that a vehicle was sent and he was driven to Matoshri Sports Club, where Mr Rane and late BJP leader, Gopinath Munde, were present in an adjoining room. The two men insisted that he write to the then governor, withdrawing support to the DF government and extending support to the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance instead. Mr Walvi said he was illegally detained at the club and assaulted by Sena workers.

Before the sessions court, the accused said that no offence under the SCs/STs Act was made out against them and that the present prosecution could not have been initiated, had the investigation been conducted properly and in the right perspective. However, plea moved by Mr Rane, Mr Nandgaonkar, and Mr Shendge was rejected.