A court in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, has convicted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and minister Nitesh Rane in connection with a 2019 incident in which an engineer of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was publicly humiliated during a protest over road conditions. The minister has been sentenced to one month in jail. The court, however, suspended the sentence to allow him to challenge the verdict in a higher forum.
The case stems from a protest held in July 2019 in Sindhudurg district, when Mr Rane, then a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) from the Congress, confronted NHAI officials over alleged poor-quality work on the Mumbai-Goa highway. According to the prosecution, the confrontation escalated when muddy water was thrown on NHAI's deputy engineer, Prakash Shedekar, and he was made to walk through slush in full public view.
While around 30 individuals, including Mr Rane, were initially booked under serious charges such as rioting, criminal conspiracy and assault on a public servant, the court found that the evidence was insufficient to sustain most of these allegations. As a result, all the accused are acquitted of the major charges.
However, the court held Mr Rane guilty under provisions related to intentional insult aimed at provoking a breach of public peace and for obstructing a public servant from carrying out official duties. The remaining 29 accused are acquitted in full.
In its observations, the court acknowledged that the protest was linked to grievances about infrastructure and public inconvenience, but made it clear that such actions cannot justify the humiliation of a government official. The judge noted that compelling a senior engineer to walk through mud amounted to a deliberate act of insult carried out in public.
The court further remarked that such conduct undermines the dignity of public servants and could discourage them from performing their duties effectively. It described the incident as a misuse of authority and stressed the need to curb such behaviour.
The episode took place on 4 July 2019, when the engineer was called to inspect a bridge site over the Gad river in Kankavli. What began as an inspection visit reportedly turned into a confrontation, with the engineer subjected to treatment that the court later described as humiliating and provocative.
Following the conviction, the court granted temporary relief by suspending the sentence, giving Mr Rane time to file an appeal.
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