Team Herald
PANJIM: Judicial Magistrate First Class Panjim has summoned former Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and his wife Divya Rane to appear in court on March 20 in connection with the 2007 threat to kill case of Advocate Aires Rodrigues. The Supreme Court of India on January 10 had directed that the case be revived.
Following the Special Leave Petition filed by Rodrigues, the Supreme Court had set aside the July 21, 2010 order of the High Court of Bombay at Goa which had quashed the indictment against Rane while holding that an offence under Sec 506 (threat to kill) of Indian Penal Code was non-cognizable.
Rodrigues in his petition before the SC had challenged that decision of the High Court which had held that the Goa government had no powers to issue a notification making Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code non-cognizable. Rane was a minister in the Congress-led cabinet in the year 2010.
The 73-page indictment was filed by Old Goa Police against Rane under Sec 506 of Indian Penal Code for allegedly threatening Rodrigues, but the decision of the government had made the section non-cognizable.
