Court defers verdict on Ranas’ bail

MUMBAI: Independent MP Navneet Rana and her husband and MLA Ravi Rana will continue to remain in jail after a special court said on Monday that it will pronounce its ruling on their bail plea on May 4.

The two leaders were arrested on April 23 after they declared that they will chant Hanuman Chalisa outside the residence of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. They were charged with sedition and promoting enmity between groups.

The couple’s arrest came against the backdrop of growing politics over loudspeakers at religious places after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray gave an ultimatum to the Maharashtra government to remove loudspeakers from mosques by May 3, or the Hanuman Chalisa would be read outside these mosques using loudspeakers to drown out the sound of the Azaan. The Maharashtra government reacted strongly, saying they will not allow anyone to vitiate the state’s peace.

In their bail plea, the Ranas said that there was no intention on their part to instigate people by reciting the Hanuman Chalisa near the CM’S private residence.