Hanuman Chalisa row: Mumbai police move court seeking cancellation of Rana couple's bail

The Mumbai Police on Monday filed an application in a special court here seeking cancellation of the bail granted to independent MP Navneet Rana and her MLA-husband Ravi Rana, accused in a sedition case following a row over the recitation of Hanuman Chalisa. The police sought that the couple's bail be cancelled on the ground that they had allegedly violated one of the conditions imposed by the special court while granting them bail last week. A non-bailable warrant should be issued against the couple, the Mumbai Police argued before the court. Mumbai Sessions Court later issued a notice to MLA Ravi Rana and his wife MP Navneet Rana seeking their say on why a Non-Bailable Warrant should not be issued against them as they have allegedly violated the conditions of the bail given to them.

Navneet Rana, the Lok Sabha member from Amravati in Maharashtra, and her husband Ravi Rana, the legislator from Badnera in Amravati, were arrested by the Mumbai police on April 23 after they announced that they would recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's private residence 'Matoshree' in Bandra area here. They were booked on charges of sedition and promoting enmity between different groups. The special court had on May 4 granted bail to the couple and imposed some conditions on them, including not to indulge in a similar offence and not to speak to the media. On Monday, the suburban Khar police filed an application through special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat, seeking that the court cancel the couple's bail as they had allegedly violated the condition of not speaking to the media.“The accused persons (Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana) have given interviews to media since their release and hence, flouted the condition imposed by the special court while granting them bail. We are seeking for the bail to be cancelled and a warrant to be issued to the accused and they be taken in custody forthwith,” Gharat said.