HC issues notice to BJP MLA Nitesh Rane over state plea to cancel bail

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday issued a notice to BJP MLA Nitesh Rane after the state government submitted a plea seeking cancellation of his bail in a 2021 attempt to murder case. The court informed Rane, arrested in December 2021 in connection with an alleged attack on a Shiv Sena functionary and granted bail by the Sindhudurg sessions court in February 2022, about the government’s plea and allowed him to present his case in person if he wished.

On December 18, 2021, Shiv Sena activist Santosh Parab was attacked while campaigning for the Sindhudurg District Co-operative Bank elections. Parab was riding a bike in Kankavli when an Innova without a number plate collided with him. The driver of the Innova allegedly stabbed him in the chest after this while he overheard the assailant mentioning “should inform Gotya Sawant and Nitesh Rane” to another person in the car before they fled from the spot.

Parab approached the Kankavli police following the incident, leading to the registration of a first information report under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

On December 30, 2021, Rane’s application for anticipatory bail in the case was rejected by the Sindhudurg sessions court, which emphasised on the necessity of his custodial interrogation. Subsequently, both the high court and supreme court rejected his pre-arrest bail plea, and he surrendered before the police. He was later granted regular bail by the sessions court.