
- Lawmakers cannot abuse power or take law into their hands.
A court in Sindhudurg on Monday convicted Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane in a 2019 case involving the public humiliation of an NHAI engineer and sentenced him to one month’s imprisonment. The court, however, suspended the sentence to allow him time to appeal before a higher court. The case relates to an incident when Rane, then in opposition, poured muddy water on an engineer over poor roadwork, with the judge observing that lawmakers cannot take the law into their own hands.
Court Flags Abuse Of Power
Additional Sessions Judge VS Deshmukh held that while Rane may have intended to highlight issues related to poor infrastructure and public inconvenience, his actions amounted to an abuse of power. The court said that humiliating a public servant in such a manner was unacceptable and could undermine the dignity of officials performing their duties.
“If such incidents continue, public servants would not be able to discharge their responsibilities with dignity,” the court noted, stressing the need to curb such behaviour.
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Acquittals, Limited Conviction
Rane was among 30 accused in the case, facing charges including rioting, assault on a public servant and criminal conspiracy. However, the court acquitted all accused, including Rane, of these major charges due to lack of sufficient evidence.
He was convicted only under Section 504 of the IPC, which deals with intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of peace, and sentenced to one month in jail.
Incident Details
The case dates back to July 4, 2019, when Rane, then a Congress MLA, summoned NHAI Sub-Divisional Engineer Prakash Shedekar to inspect ongoing work on the Mumbai-Goa Highway near Kankavli.
According to the prosecution, Rane and his supporters confronted the engineer over poor road conditions and waterlogging. They allegedly poured muddy water on him and forced him to walk through slush in public.
The court observed that the act amounted to deliberate humiliation, noting that the engineer, despite holding a senior position, was subjected to public insult. It concluded that Rane’s actions were intended to provoke and disturb public order.
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