MUMBAI, July 29 -- A Mazgaon court on Monday set aside the non-bailable warrant issued against BJP minister Nitesh Rane in a defamation case initiated by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut. The court, however, directed Rane to record his formal statement in the matter on Tuesday. The case pertains to Rane's comment in May 2023, when he allegedly 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. The court had, in June, rejected Rane's application for permanent exemption from personal appearance in the case and proceeded to issue a non-bailable warrant against him after noting his repeated absence from scheduled hearings. Multiple warrants had reportedly been issued against Rane in the past as well. Following the issuance of one such warrant in 2023, Rane had approached the Bombay high court, contending that compelling him to enter a plea before exhausting his legal remedies would compromise his right to appeal. He had also criticised the basis of that particular non-bailable warrant, claiming it was issued mechanically although he was not present in court for only three scheduled hearings. The high court had then stayed the warrant's execution and directed Rane to appear before the magistrate. But he failed to do so on multiple subsequent occasions, prompting the Mazgaon court to reissue the warrant in June. The court set aside the warrant on Monday after his counsel said he would appear in court during the next hearing. Rane, currently the state minister for fisheries and ports development, is the son of BJP MP Narayan Rane....