FIR against Sanjay Raut for ‘advising’ officers to ignore govt directives

Mumbai: The Nashik Police have filed an FIR against Shiv Sena (UBT) MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut for advising the police and government officials to ignore the orders of the ‘unconstitutional’ government of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, officials said here on Monday.

Raut had made the comments on Friday after the Supreme Court verdict on the June 2022 split in the original Shiv Sena which toppled the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime headed by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

“The Supreme Court judgement is very clear on this aspect. This ‘illegal’ government will have to go within three months. We are awaiting the decision of the Speaker on the disqualification of 16 MLAs. However, the apex court verdict has declared the entire government as ‘unconstitutional’, so even the remaining 24 MLAs will be disqualified now… I call upon the government officials and police not to follow any orders of this ‘unconstitutional’ regime, or it could spell consequences even for them later,” said Raut.

Taking cognizance of a complaint, the Mumbai Naka Police Station in Nashik has registered an FIR under 505(1)(b) of Indian Penal Code.

It deals with statements made “…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’…”

Reacting to the developments and the FIR, Raut reiterated his statements on Monday and contended that he has not said anything wrong, and accused the CM and Deputy CM of pressurising the Nashik Police to lodge the FIR against him.

“I have only said that after the order of the Supreme Court, I think this government is unconstitutional… So, if the government officials follow the order of this government, then it will be illegal and they might be liable for action in the future,” Raut told mediapersons.

In a social media post, Raut said: “Democracy and freedom have been severely affected in Maharashtra and authoritarian tendency has to be fought.”

He asked “what is my crime”, and recounted how the ‘formation’ of the government has been declared illegal, from the Whip to the election of Shinde as the group leader, everything has been decided as against the constitution

He added that 16 MLAs – including Shinde – are likely to be disqualified any moment and so the administration should not follow the orders of the illegal government.

“I expressed the opinion that cases will be filed in future. Is this a crime? Govt directly filed a case… I am not afraid of action. Democracy and freedom have become rubbish in Maharashtra,” declared Raut.