Pune (Maharashtra), Aug 2: A Pune Magistrate Court cancelled a non-bailable arrest warrant (NBW) against Shivba Sanghatana leader Manoj Jarange-Patil but asked him to ‘behave’ in his public utterances, here on Friday. The arrest warrant was issued on July 24 by Judicial Magistrate First Class A.C. Birajdar after Jarange-Patil -- who is spearheading the Maratha quota agitation -- failed to appear before it despite repeated summons in an 11-year old cheating case.
Apprehending arrest, Jarange-Patil’s legal team assured the court that he would remain present at the next hearing on August 2 and even urged the Magistrate to cancel the NBW. Jarange-Patil, who has been unwell for the past few days, arrived from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Pune in an ambulance this morning and attended the court proceedings where the Magistrate reprimanded him. His lawyer Harshad Nimbalkar submitted the medical records and after a perusal, the Magistrate cancelled the NBW.
During the hearing, the Magistrate also took note of certain contemptuous remarks Jarange-Patil made on the court, directed him not to repeat such comments in future, to obey the court directives and asked him to furnish fresh bond papers. This was the second NBW in the recent past pertaining to flouting an agreement with a drama producer in 2013 that was issued against Jarange-Patil and his two aides, Datta Bahir and Arjun Jadhav.
After the NBW, Jarange-Patil had alleged that it was a conspiracy by the MahaYuti state government to dump him behind bars and finish him off in prison. The complainant, Dhananjay Ghorpade, a drama producer from Pune, claimed that in 2013, Jarange-Patil and the other accused had hired him to organise multiple shows of his stage drama, "Shambhuraje", in Jalna.
At least five shows were staged and rehearsals for another show were also carried out but later the accused trio allegedly backtracked and did not make the payment of Rs 30 lakh, as was agreed among them. After his pleas went unheeded, Ghorpade filed a court complaint and at least four summons were issued which Jarange-Patil had ignored. On a previous occasion in May 2024, when the court had issued a NBW against Jarange-Patil, he appeared before the court, paid a fine of Rs 500 and agreed to report for the next hearing.
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