A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena leader Sanjay Raut by Nashik City police for calling the Eknath Shinde government ‘illegal.’
The FIR was filed on May 14 under section 505 (1) (b) of the Indian Penal Code. The section deals with the ‘intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquillity.’
The Nashik Police has taken suo motu cognisance of the comment made by Mr. Raut and the FIR was registered. The Mumbai Naka police station also booked him under the Police (Incitement to Disaffection) Act.
On May 11, the Supreme Court said the then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari’s call for a trust vote, which led to the resignation of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government last June, was illegal. It said that Mr. Koshiyari was “not justified” in calling Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority on the floor of the House.
The next day, in a press conference, Member of Parliament, Mr. Raut had appealed to current government officials and policemen to not follow “illegal orders of this illegal government.” He had also said, “Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government will collapse in the next three months.”
A Nashik City police official confirmed that a FIR has been registered against Mr. Raut.
Last year December in 2022, a special court in Mumbai granted bail to Mr. Raut in a money laundering case where he was in jail for four months.
