'Country Is Run By Laws': Narayan Rane On Slapgate After Getting Relief From Bombay HC

“The verdict in all cases (by Shiv Sena) filed against me in Bombay High Court has come in my favour. This is an indication that the country is run by laws,” ANI quoted Rane as saying.

Narayan Rane with BJP workers during the Konkan tour of Jan Ashirwad Yatra. (Image: PTI)

Mumbai: Union Minister Narayan Rane, who approached the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of multiple FIRs registered against him for his ‘slap’ remark against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, on Wednesday said the verdict has come in his favour and added this is an indication that the country is run by laws.

“The verdict in all cases (by Shiv Sena) filed against me in Bombay High Court has come in my favour. This is an indication that the country is run by laws,” ANI quoted Rane as saying.

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The Union Minister also thanked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for extending their support to him.

“My party leaders have stood behind me and I want to thank them all. The ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ will resume from day after tomorrow,” he said.

Rane also cited Thackeray’s “will hit with slippers” comment about his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath earlier in 2018 and said that his comment was no different.

The Union Minister’s remarks in this regard came as the issue is being discussed in social media.

Rane also used the occasion to take a jibe at West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee.

“We won't let Maharashtra become West Bengal,” he said.

BJP demands CBI probe, blames Anil Parab for Rane’s arrest:

Earlier in the day, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar alleged Maharashtra minister Anil Parab is behind Rane’s arrest and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.

“Anil Parab is behind the arrest of Narayan Rane. We demand a CBI inquiry into the arrest and the entire procedure of action,” said Shelar.

“Why is the Maharashtra government so scared of Jan Ashirwad Yatra that they are behaving like this?” he asked.

The BJP MLA also sought an apology from the Maharashtra Chief Minister.

“On 15th August, CM Thackeray forgot that how many years has it been since the independence. Under the leadership of state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, we will write 75,000 letters and send them to the CM so that he doesn't forget. Will CM apologise to the people?” he said.

The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that it would not take any coercive action against Rane in an FIR registered in Nashik over his controversial remarks against the Chief Minister.

This came as the Bombay High Court was hearing a petition filed by Rane’s lawyers to quash the FIRs filed against him.

The matter will be next heard on September 17.

Rane, who was arrested in Ratnagiri on Tuesday, was later granted bail by the Raigad Magistrate Court in one of the FIRs filed against him for his alleged derogatory statement against Thackeray.

The Union Minister stirred a controversy earlier on Monday with his remarks about slapping the Maharashtra Chief Minister for what he claimed his “ignorance of the year of India’s Independence”.