The court has asked the Rana couple to not to commit a similar offence while on bail. They have also been told not address the press on any subject related to the case
Hanuman Chalisa row: MP Navneet Rana, MLA-husband Ravi Rana get bail – ANI
Lok Sabha MP from Amravati Navneet Rana and her MLA-husband Ravi Rana have been granted bail by a Special Court in Mumbai on Wednesday. The couple was arrested on 23 April, 2022, by the Mumbai police following a row over the recitation of Hanuman Chalisa.
The Rana couple had made a public declaration of reciting the Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence ‘Matoshree’ in Bandra area in Mumbai. They were booked under various provisions of the IPC, including charges of sedition and promoting enmity.
On Wednesday, special judge R N Rokade allowed their bail plea and said that the applicants shall not commit a similar offence while on bail. They have also been asked not address the press on any subject related to the case.
The couple had in their bail plea, filed through advocates Rizwan Merchant and Abad Ponda, claimed that the call to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside ‘Matoshree’ cannot be said to be an act to promote feelings of enmity or hatred and the charge under IPC section 153(A) cannot be sustained.
They also submitted that by no stretch of imagination, can the acts of the applicants be stated to constitute the offence of sedition.
The police, represented by special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat, had opposed the bail plea, saying while on the face of it the couple’s plan looked innocent, but it was, in fact, a big plot to challenge the ruling government.
The police claimed that the opposition BJP in the state and political opponents of Thackeray were trying to create an atmosphere to show that the chief minister was against Hindus and not sponsoring the cause of Hinduism.
Navneet Rana’s lawyer Monday wrote a letter to the Superintendent of Byculla Jail stating that the MP has spondylosis which is increasing due to continuously sitting and lying on the floor in jail.
The lawyer further stated that Rana needs to undergo a CT scan so that the doctors can understand the seriousness of her condition, adding that the jail authorities denied permission for the same. He warned that if Rana’s condition deteriorates due to a lack of timely diagnosis, then the jail authorities will be responsible for the same.
Rana’s lawyer in his letter said, “Navneet Rana has a problem of spondylosis which is increasing due to continuously sitting and lying on the floor in jail. In view of this, she was taken to JJ Hospital on 27 April. The doctor of JJ Hospital has specifically written that it is mandatory to do a CT scan of Rana so that they can understand how serious the problem of spondylosis is, but the concerned authorities did not allow for the same. Until this does not happen, it is difficult to decide what medicine or treatment should be given to Rana.”
He further wrote, “We have requested the concerned authorities but our request has not been accepted. If Navneet Rana’s problem increases even more and something happens to her, then you will be responsible for it.”
After her arrest, Navneet Rana was jailed after at Khar Police Station and was moved to the Byculla women’s prison the following day.
With inputs from PTI and ANI
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