Rapper gets interim protection from arrest in case of song 'defaming' Maha govt

A court in Thane disitrict has granted interim protection from arrest to Marathi rapper Raj Mungase till April 25 in a case registered against him for allegedly defaming the Eknath Shindeled Maharashtra government though his video songAdditional Sessions Judge at Kalyan R G Waghmare while granting the interim relief to Mungase on Wednesday directed the Ambernath police who have registered the offence against the rapper to submit their reply on his plea seeking anticipatory bailThe court will hear the matter on April 25A Shiv Sena activist at Ambernath in Thane district had lodged a complaint against rap singer Mungase over a song he recently uploaded on YouTube which uses words such as pannas khoke fifty cartons and chor thieves an official earlier saidAlso Read Missing Aurangabad rapper resurfaces lsquoWhy are they so scared of my songrsquoA First Information Report FIR was registered against Mungase earlier this month under Indian Penal Code sections 501 defamation 504 intentional insult to provoke breach of peace and 5052 statements creating enmity between classes at Shivajinagar police station in AmbernathLeaders loyal to Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray have often accused MLAs of the Eknath Shindeled Shiv Sena who rebelled last year and brought down the Thackeray government as chor and ones who took khoke or cartons of money to switch sidesShinde became chief minister last year with the Bharatiya Janata Partys support a split in the Shiv SenaIn his plea the rapper said his video song was against the injustice faced by common people and was not targeted against any one in particularMungase said he was raising social issues through his art formHe also said as his video was in the public domain the police need not arrest him and his custodial interrogation was not necessaryThe rap singer also submitted that registration of an offence itself is curbing the democratic rights of citizens pertaining to the freedom of speech and expression which are guaranteed under the ConstitutionAfter the case was registered against Mungase Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad had shared the rappers video song on Twitter and said he hoped police would not arrest himIn another tweet Awhad questioned what crime Mungase had committedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever