Narayan Rane's arrest justified but police custody not necessary: Court

The court said as quoted by The Indian Express, "Admittedly, the accused being a Central Cabinet Minister, police necessarily should have remained along with him. Apart from this, there is the first information report (FIR) against the present accused lodged by one of the members of a political party. Considering reasons of arrest and reasons discussed above, I found that arrest is justified."

"In the present case, whatever statement allegedly made by the accused was made before police and available to the media. The informant himself alleged in the FIR that the accused made a statement before the media and it was viral in social media. Considering the nature of the offence I do not find it necessary to hand him over in police custody," it added.

Rane, a leader of the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was arrested Tuesday over his controversial remark on Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

"It is shameful that the chief minister does not know the year of independence. He leaned back to enquire about the count of years of independence during his speech. Had I been there, I would have given (him) a tight slap," Rane reportedly said during BJP's Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Raigad Monday.

A First Information Report (FIR) was filed in Nashik against Rane, a BJP leader.