Hanuman Chalisa row: Notice to Rana couple sent

MUMBAI: A special court on Monday issued a notice 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, seeking their response to an application filed by the Mumbai police urging for their bail to be cancelled.

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.

Special Judge R N Rokade on Monday briefly heard special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat and issued a notice to the Rana couple for their response. The court will hear the matter further on May 18.

Navneet Rana, the Lok

Sabha member from Amravati in Maharashtra, and her husband Ravi Rana, MLA from Badnera in Amravati, were arrested 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.

They were booked on charges of sedition and prompting 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 Pradip Gharat, seeking that the court cancel the couple’s bail as they had allegedly violated the condition of not speaking to the media.