A special bench of Mumbai Sessions court granted bail to independent Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana and her husband independent MLA Ravi Rana on 4th May 2022. Both of them were under arrest for the last 12 days under serious charges including sedition, for announcing their intention to chant Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree, the residence of the Thackeray family. Justice Rahul Rokade agreed to the argument presented by the defence lawyers, and granted the bail to both of them with certain conditions.
Ravi Rana is kept in the Taloja jail while Navneet Rana is in the women’s jail at Byculla. The bail is subject to execution of personal bonds of ₹50,000 each. Both of them will be released after the order copy reaches the respective jails. Despite the granted bail, the court imposed certain conditions on the Ranas. The court said they would not talk to the media. There will be no press conference in this case. No one will tamper with the evidence and will not commit any such crime again.
The court’s decision is seen as a major setback to the state government. The court has held the arrest of the Rana couple illegal. The court said that it was necessary to give notice to the Rana couple before the arrest. The Mumbai police arrested them without going through any such legal process. Therefore, the court has accepted the arguments of the defence and granted bail.
Public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat has given his reaction after the Rana couple was granted bail. Speaking to the media, he said, “Though the Rana couple has been granted bail, the court has imposed certain conditions on them. They have been strictly forbidden to speak to the media on related matters. They have also been prohibited from contacting or pressurizing witnesses in any manner. Besides, various conditions have been imposed by the court that they should cooperate with the police in the investigation and be present at the police station for questioning within twenty-four hours of the notice from the police.”
Amravati MP Navneet Rana and MLA Ravi Rana had announced that they would chant Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree, the private residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. For this, they had arrived in Mumbai. So tension was created between the Shiv Sena goons and the supporters of the Ranas. At this time the Rana couple was arrested on charges of disturbing law and order by making provocative statements.
Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana are in judicial custody for the past twelve days. Shiv Sena goons accused the Rana couple of hurting religious sentiments and trying to incite violence. In response to a complaint by these Shiv Sena goons, a case was filed against the Amaravati MP under section 153A of the IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony). The couple is accused of giving derogatory, offensive, and inciting statements against the Maharashtra govt and CM Uddhav Thackeray over the Hanuman Chalisa vs Azaan issue. Now after this decision, both can come out of jail by evening.
