A Mumbai court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to Union Minister Narayan Rane and his son Nitesh Rane in the Disha Salian defamation case. Salian was the former manager of the late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. She allegedly committed suicide by jumping off a high-rise in suburban Malad on June 8, 2020. Six days later, Rajput was found hanging in his flat in the Bandra area in Mumbai.
The court said that if the father-son duo is arrested, they would have to be released on a bail bond of Rs 15,000 each. Both were represented by senior defence lawyer Satish Maneshinde.
In a statement, Maneshinde said, “This proves that the Mumbai Police has registered a case against Ranes at the behest of their political bosses on the basis of frivolous charges. Instead, the police should go after serious offenders and their own officers who have reduced the Mumbai Police to hafta collectors and murderers.”
He further said that the reputation of Mumbai Police had gone to the dumps in the recent past, who compared themselves to ‘Scotland Yard’.
A case was filed at the Malwani Police station by Disha Salian’s parents who alleged that the Ranes in a press conference had made defamatory statements against Disha which had hurt the sentiments of the family. Subsequently, an FIR was registered under section 211 (false charges), 500 (defamation), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (insult to modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Reacting to the order, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane said, “The Disha Salian case should be investigated by the CBI. We don’t have faith in Mumbai Police.”
Salian’s parents are yet to react to the order.
After the FIR was filed, the Ranes anticipated an arrest by the Mumbai Police and hence approached the court. They have also filed a plea before the Bombay High Court for quashing the case.
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