I am not afraid, will continue speaking the truth: Tejashwi on FIR lodged in Maharashtra
Katihar (PTI): RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday asserted that he was "not afraid" of an FIR lodged in BJP-ruled Maharashtra, over his social media post about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and he will "continue to speak the truth".
Yadav has been booked in Gadchiroli district for a post on his X handle, ahead of the PM's tour of Bihar on Friday, in which he had alleged that Modi's promises to the people were a "jumla" (rhetoric).
When approached by PTI video for comments, the young leader shot back, "Who is afraid of an FIR? Is jumla an objectionable word? I was simply telling the truth. And I will continue to do so. They may lodge as many cases against me as they please."
The former Bihar deputy CM spoke while touring fish markets and makhana fields in the north Bihar district of Katihar, along with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is touring the state as part of the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra'.
Gandhi was seen chatting with fishermen and cultivators of makhana (fox nuts) and listening to their problems, in the presence of a number of leaders, including Independent MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, whose Purnea Lok Sabha constituency covers a part of Katihar.
A popular snack which is also used in religious functions and to prepare desserts, makhana has been in the spotlight ever since the Union budget presented earlier this year announced the setting up of a 'makhana board' to give a boost to its production.
The PM has also been giving a push to the north Bihar produce by claiming that he loves to snack on the "super food".
In his address during the inauguration function of the Khelo India tournament, held in Bihar earlier this year, Modi had asked athletes from across the country to make sure that they enjoyed makhana during their stay.
The day's Yatra is scheduled to conclude at Purnea town, around 30 km away.
Yadav's close aide and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav fulminated against the BJP over the FIR against the leader of the opposition in the assembly.
He said, "What is the point in lodging FIRs in far-off states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Assam? The BJP shares power in Bihar, too. If they have the guts, let them lodge an FIR here. I also challenge all BJP MLAs across the country to lodge FIRs against our leader."
Notably, the FIR at Gadchiroli is said to have been filed following a complaint by local BJP MLA Milind Narote.
Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav, who is also taking part in the Yatra, dubbed the FIR as an instance of "political vendetta".
The former Bihar Congress president added, "The BJP should know that we belong to a political lineage which fought the British without getting cowed down. We are not the ones to be intimidated by the likes of Modi and Amit Shah."
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2019 mud attack on engineer: Maharashtra court sentences BJP minister Nitesh Rane to one-month jail
Mumbai (PTI): A court in Sindhudurg on Monday convicted Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane in a 2019 case of pouring mud on an NHAI engineer when he was in opposition, and sentenced him to one-month imprisonment, noting that lawmakers are not supposed to take the law into their hands.
Later, the court suspended Rane's sentence, allowing him time to appeal before a higher court, while acquitting 29 other accused in the case.
"Even though Rane's intention was to raise a voice against the poor quality of work and inconvenience faced by the people, he was not supposed to humiliate or insult a public servant in public," additional sessions court judge V S Deshmukh stated.
"If such incidents continue to occur, public servants would not be able to discharge their duties with dignity," the judge noted.
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Calling the act "abuse of power", the court held that "it is the demand of time to curb such tendency".
Rane, a son of former Union minister Narayan Rane, was among 30 people charged under various offences, including rioting, assault to deter a public servant, and criminal conspiracy. He was in Congress when the incident occurred.
All the accused, including Nitesh Rane, were acquitted of these offences, as the court found insufficient evidence to support most of these claims.
However, the court found Nitesh Rane guilty of an offence under section 504 (intentional insult meant to provoke a breach of public peace) and sentenced him to one month's jail.
Rane, then a Congress MLA, had called the Sub-Divisional Engineer of the National Highway Authority, Prakash Shedekar, to a bridge over the Gad river in Kankavli on July 4, 2019, for inspecting the work to widen the Mumbai-Goa Highway.
According to the prosecution, Nitesh Rane and his followers, frustrated by the poor quality of the roadwork and waterlogging, confronted the engineer. They poured muddy water on Shedekar and forced him to walk through slush in public.
The court, after perusing the evidence on record, noted that the informant (victim) was holding a high post in the National Highway Authority.
"Despite that, he was made to walk through the muddy water in public. It would have certainly humiliated and insulted him," the court remarked.
The judge held that Rane compelling Shedekar to walk through the muddy water "was nothing but an intentional insult to the informant," and provocation which will cause him to break the public peace.
