Amravati Member of Parliament (MP) Navneet Rana and MLA Ravi Rana were sent to judicial custody for 14 days by the Holiday and Sunday court of Metropolitan Magistrate, Bandra, Mumbai.
On Saturday, a row started when Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband stated that the couple planned to chant Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree (Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Mumbai residence), after which a huge crowd gathered outside the residence of the political couple waving flags with an aim to prevent them from reaching the Chief Minister’s residence.
The Ranas withdrew their
plan amid the protests from Shiv Sainiks that culminated in their arrest on the charge of creating enmity between different groups.
The MP-MLA couple’s application will be heard by the court on 29 April. The Mumbai Police have asked them to file their say on the bail plea on 27 April. Speaking to reporters, Rizwan Merchant, the advocate of Navneet and Ravi accused the police of registering the second FIR against them under Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“After the FIR was registered by Khar Police Station on the complaint of Navneet and Ravi Rana against the other side, a second FIR appears to be registered by the police against Navneet Kaur Rana and her husband Ravi Rana i.e. charge of 353 IPC,” Merchant said.
“If the charge of 353 IPC was made out with respect to the incident at the residence, there is no reason why that charge couldn’t have been added in the first FIR of 500. The arrest memo also does not show the charge of 353,” he explained.
The lawyer attacked the public prosecutor Pradip Gharat also and said it is the first time when the prosecutor argued that the case of the accused falls under section 124A, which is sedition.
“For the first time, public prosecutor Pradip Gharat, obviously on instructions from the police department argued that the case of the accused falls under 124A, which is sedition,” Merchant said.
He further said, “Hanuman Chalisa is nothing but praise of Lord Ram and Hanuman… the place where Hanuman Chalisa was supposed to be chanted was outside the house of people who claim to love Lord Ram; the question of wanting to chant Hanuman Chalisa should not be affecting them at all.”
“Therefore, chanting Hanuman Chalisa cannot fall under Section 153A… this entire case is bogus. They have a very strong feeling that they are standing on loose ground. They know of the possibility of release on bail and have thus prepared the second FIR,” he added.
Mumbai Police said six Shiv Sena workers were arrested on Sunday for allegedly creating ruckus outside MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana’s residence in Mumbai over the Hanuman Chalisa row.
“Khar police arrested six Shiv Sena workers after Police registered a case yesterday against party workers who created ruckus outside the residence of Navneet and Ravi Rana,” said Mumbai Police adding that the search for other accused is underway.