A Maharashtra court convicted BJP minister Nitesh Rane and sentenced him to one month in jail, with the sentence suspended for appeal, in connection with a 2019 incident in which he and his supporters allegedly poured buckets of mud or muddy water on a government engineer and made him walk through it in public. The case had dragged through the courts for nearly six years before the verdict came.
The incident took place on July 4, 2019, on a bridge over the Gad river in Kankavli, Sindhudurg district. Rane, son of former Union minister Narayan Rane, had summoned National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) deputy engineer Prakash Shedekar to inspect widening work on the Mumbai–Goa Highway.
At the site, Rane and his supporters allegedly poured buckets of muddy water on the engineer as a protest against persistent potholes and poor road conditions on that highway stretch. The act was treated by the court as an intentional insult rather than a full‑blown assault.
Court verdict and charges
The Additional Sessions Court in Sindhudurg, presided over by Judge VS Deshmukh, found Rane guilty under Section 504 of the Indian Penal Code (“intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace”). The more serious charges, including rioting, criminal conspiracy, and assault on a public servant, were dropped and Rane along with 29 co‑accused supporters, were acquitted of these counts, with the court citing insufficient evidence.
“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,” HT quoted additional sessions court judge V S Deshmukh as saying.
“If such incidents continue to occur, public servants would not be able to discharge their duties with dignity,” HT quoted the judge as saying.
Along with the one‑month jail term, the court imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Rane. The sentence has been suspended, giving him time to challenge the conviction before a higher court.
Political background and significance
At the time of the 2019 incident, Rane was a member of the Indian National Congress. He later switched to the BJP and currently holds a ministerial post in the Maharashtra government.
The conviction marks a rare instance of a sitting minister being found guilty in connection with a protest that targeted a serving government official. The case had drawn wide attention at the time for the unusual and humiliating nature of the alleged insult.
