MP Navneet Rana at Santacruz Station, after she along with her husband Ravi Rana were arrested for promoting enmity between different groups on Saturday, in Mumbai, Sunday, April 24, 2022. (PTI Photo) The sessions court Tuesday directed the Mumbai police to file their reply on the bail pleas of Independent lawmaker Navneet Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana, arrested in connection with the Hanuman Chalisa controversy, on April 29. The court said it will also begin a hearing on the plea on the same day if time permits.
Rana and her husband Ravi, who is also an Independent MLA, were arrested last Saturday from their residence in Mumbai’s Khar after declaring that they would recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s home in the Bandra area of the city. The two were subsequently booked in two First Information Reports (FIRs) lodged on charges of sedition, promoting enmity, and assaulting a public servant to prevent discharge of duty.
The couple had on Sunday filed a bail plea before the magistrate’s court after they were sent to judicial custody till May 6. They have given an undertaking that the bail pleas be withdrawn from the magistrate’s court. This is because the police invoked section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against them which is triable before a sessions court and hence not maintainable before the magistrate’s court.
In their common bail applications filed before the sessions court on Monday, the couple had said that their announcement to chant Hanuman Chalisa at Matoshree was to enlist popular support and cannot be said to be done to incite violence, hatred or cause public disorder. The plea also said that their arrest was made under pressure in a highhanded manner and that the government cannot be hypersensitive and impervious to criticism.
On Monday, the Bombay High Court dismissed a writ plea by the Ranas as “devoid of merits” after the couple had sought to quash an FIR registered by the Mumbai police for resisting their arrest. They may approach the Supreme Court against the order.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
