Nitish Rane has been convicted in the 2019 mud attack case, in which an engineer from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was involved. A Sindhudurg court sentenced him to one month in jail. However, the sentence was stayed immediately after the order, giving him time to appeal to a higher court.
The decision has put the spotlight back on a case that had garnered national attention. In the video from that time, the minister and his supporters were seen throwing mud at a government official during a protest over the condition of the Mumbai-Goa highway.
The court said that public problems cannot be a justification for publicly humiliating a government official. It also said that elected representatives cannot take the law into their own hands.
The incident took place in July 2019 during protests over the poor condition of the Mumbai-Goa highway. Rane had called NHAI sub-divisional engineer Prakash Shedekar to inspect the road widening work.
According to the prosecution, Rane and his supporters confronted the engineer over waterlogging and the quality of road construction. He was later seen on camera throwing mud at the officer along with his supporters.
He was also charged with rioting, criminal conspiracy and assault with intent to deter a government servant from performing his duties.
Additional Sessions Court judge V S Deshmukh said the protests may have been motivated by public interest, but the method adopted was illegal and amounted to abuse of power.
“Even though Rane’s intention was to raise his voice against the poor quality of work and the inconvenience caused to the people, he should not have publicly insulted or humiliated any government servant,” the judge said.
He further said, “If such developments continue, government employees will not be able to discharge their duties with dignity.”
The court convicted Rane under section 504 of the Indian Penal Code for intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace and sentenced him to one month’s imprisonment. The other 29 accused named in the case were acquitted.
Once the sentence is stayed, the case is likely to go to the appellate court if Rane challenges the decision.
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