The Rana couple was booked under various segments of the law, including sedition. The Ranas were arrested on April 23 and produced before a court the next day which had sent them to judicial custody till May 6.
Mumbai: Arrested for the announcement to chant the Hanuman Chalisa outside Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s house, Independent MP Navneet Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana were granted bail by a court in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The couple was booked under various segments of the law, including sedition. The Ranas were arrested on April 23 and produced before a court the next day which had sent them to judicial custody till May 6. The Mumbai court allowed their release on a bond of Rs 50,000 after their lawyers sought their release on provisional cash bail for two weeks till the surety can be arranged.
A day after the couple had announced to chant the Hanuman Chalisa outside Thackeray’s home to ward off the government’s “calamities taking place in Maharashtra”, a large number of Shiv Sainiks reached their residence and started protesting. They even tried to enter their house but were stopped by the police despite the agitators managing to break the barricades outside the couple’s house.
While granting the couple bail, special judge R N Rokade said they shall not commit a similar offence while on bail and not address the press on any subject related to the case.
In their plea, the couple said that the call to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree (the Thackerays’ residence in Mumbai), cannot be said to be an act that promotes feelings of enmity or hatred and the charge under IPC Section 153(A) cannot be sustained. They also submitted that the acts cannot be stated to constitute the offence of sedition.
The police had opposed to the bail and had said that although their attempt “looks innocent”, the state BJP and the political opponents of Uddhav Thackeray are trying to create an atmosphere to show that the chief minister is against Hindus and not sponsoring the cause of Hinduism.
Earlier on April 25, Thackeray had come down heavily on the couple and had said, “If you wanted to come home to chant Hanuman Chalisa then you are welcomed but if wanted to do dadagiri then we know how to break it up.”
