India, July 29 -- A Mazgaon court on Monday set aside the non-bailable warrant issued against Maharashtra minister and BJP legislator Nitesh Rane in a defamation case initiated by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut. The court, however, directed Rane to remain present in court on Tuesday to record his formal statement in the matter.

The case pertains to Rane's alleged comment in May 2023, when he likened Raut to a "snake" and claimed he would desert the Uddhav Thackeray-led party for the (undivided) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The remark, which was publicly refuted by both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the undivided NCP, was labelled "defamatory and blatantly false" by Raut, who subsequently moved the magistrate's court seeking legal action....