Non-bailable warrant issued against BJP MLA Nitesh Rane in defamation case filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut

Mumbai, August 7

A court here has issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against BJP MLA Nitesh Rane in a defamation complaint lodged against him by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.

Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Aarti A Kulkarni issued the NBW as Rane failed to appear before the court on Tuesday.

In January too, the court had issued an NBW against the BJP MLA. It was cancelled following his appearance on February 26.

But since then, Rane failed to turn up and sought exemptions from appearance on different grounds.

On Tuesday, his exemption plea was rejected by the court.

Raut’s lawyer then filed an application seeking the issuance of a warrant against the MLA. The court granted the application and posted the matter for further hearing to October 17.

In May last year, Nitesh Rane, son of former Union minister Narayan Rane, allegedly called Raut a “snake” who would ditch Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and join NCP within a month.

Raut, a Rajya Sabha member, filed a complaint before the magistrate’s court seeking action against Rane for the “defamatory and blatantly false” remarks.