Hanuman Chalisa row: Mumbai police seek non-bailable arrest warrant against Navneet Rana, Ravi Rana

The two had been arrested on charges including sedition in the wake of a row over recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa at the residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. A special court had on Wednesday allowed bail to the duo and directed their release on a bond of Rs 50,000 each. Their lawyers had sought their release on provisional cash bail for two weeks till the surety was arranged.

The plea filed by the state through the police inspector of Khar police station, moved by special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat on Monday, claimed that the couple had violated the restriction on speaking to the media about the case and Navneet had also issued threats. Gharat mentioned the state’s application before special judge R N Rokade and said that it is not for cancellation of bail, but for issuance of non-bailable warrant as the bail order stipulated that violation of condition would automatically lead to cancellation of bail.

“…immediately after coming out of jail, the accused have started giving bites to the visual media and have made statements and have committed breach of the bail condition which was imposed on them,” the plea said. It claimed that in the light of the breach, the bail shall stand automatically cancelled and prayed that non-bailable arrest warrants be issued against the accused and that they be taken into custody.

Gharat added that Navneet Rana’s statement that Hanuman bhakts “will teach them a lesson” was a direct threat and it was also an open challenge to the court order. “They are calling it a vengeful act and it shows they are speaking about this case. The bail order says they are not supposed to give threats to witnesses, but doesn’t this amount to threat? If they have grievances, they should have sought appropriate remedies before the court. The magistrate had asked the accused persons if they had a complaint and they said they had no complaints. Their bail bond stands cancelled with breach of conditions. An arrest warrant is required against them,” Gharat argued.

“Now they (Ranas) are in Delhi and even there they gave interviews in the press about the case and the same is a violation of court’s order,” he submitted.

Special judge Rokade, while pronouncing the bail order earlier, had said that among the conditions set before the couple was that they cannot make any statement to the press in connection with the case and that their bail will be forfeited if they commit similar offences. They were also directed to remain present for the investigation as and when required with a 24-hour notice to be given by the investigators.

In its detailed order, the special court had said that while the couple “crossed the lines of freedom of speech and expression” in their “blameworthy” statements against Thackeray, mere expression of derogatory or objectionable words is not a sufficient ground to invoke sedition under provisions of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. The court also said that political leaders play an important role in facilitating peace and tranquillity and hence have greater responsibility.