Ex-Mumbai mayor Datta Dalvi arrested for 'objectionable' remarks against CM Shinde

The Mumbai police on Wednesday arrested Shiv Sena UBT leader and former city mayor Datta Dalvi for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.A court later remanded him in 14-day judicial custody. Dalvi sought bail from the court, claiming that he was innocent and falsely implicated in the case.

The Mumbai police on Wednesday arrested Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former city mayor Datta Dalvi for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

A court later remanded him in 14-day judicial custody. Dalvi sought bail from the court, claiming that he was ''innocent and falsely implicated'' in the case. The application will be heard on Thursday.

Dalvi was arrested from Bhandup area of Mumbai in the morning, the police official said.

''During a probe, the police found that a meeting was organised on Sunday by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in suburban Bhandup, where Dalvi allegedly made some objectionable remarks against Shinde,'' a Bhandup police station official said.

The rival factions of the Shiv Sena led by Thackery and Shinde are at daggers drawn since the party split in June 2022.

A first information report (FIR) was registered against Dalvi under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including 153 (a) (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 153 (b) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 294 (obscene acts and songs) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), he said.

Following his arrest, the police produced him before a magistrate court in suburban Mulund and sought his remand for two days.

The investigators said his custody was required for maintaining law and order in the area.

However, advocate Sundeep Singh, appearing for Dalvi, submitted that no justifiable ground for custody has been made out in the remand plea and his personal liberty cannot be curtailed.

He also argued that no offence was made out against the accused under the sections he has been booked by the police.

The accused has been arrested as a result of ''political vendetta'', he said.

The court, after hearing both sides, refused to grant custody of the accused to the police and remanded him in judicial custody.

Dalvi's lawyer then moved the bail application. Meanwhile, unidentified persons attacked Dalvi's car parked outside his house in Kannamwar Nagar in suburban Vikhroli on Wednesday afternoon, a police official said.

The incident took place sometime between 4 and 5 pm, he said.

An FIR was registered against four unidentified persons under IPC sections 427 (mischief causing damage) and 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) and probe was underway, the official added.