On May 27, Friday, the Lok Sabha Privileges and Ethics Committee summoned Maharashtra DGP Rajnish Seth, Mumbai CP Sanjay Pandey, Maharashtra Chief Secretary Manu Kumar Srivastava and Superintendent of Women District Prison, Byculla (Mumbai) Yashwant Bhanudas to appear before them on June 15 for oral evidence. The order was passed after Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, alleging that she was subjected to “inhuman treatment” and harassment by the Mumbai Police following her “illegal” arrest following the Hanuman Chalisa row.
Parliament’s Privileges and Ethics Committee asks Maharashtra Chief Secretary to appear before them on 15th June for oral evidence, in connection with Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana’s arrest matter pic.twitter.com/gwBGOUjWS7
— ANI (@ANI) May 27, 2022
Last month, a day after Navneet Rana was remanded to judicial custody over the ‘Hanuman Chalisa row’, the Amravati MP alleged caste discrimination and abuse at the Khar police station on April 23, 2022. She has made the revelations in a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. She recounted the casteist treatment meted to her during her time in police custody.
“I was taken to Khar Police Station on April 23 and I spent the night in the Police Station…I made several and repeated demands for drinking water throughout the night, however, no drinking water was provided to me throughout the night,” the Amaravati MP said.
Navneet Rana informed Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, “To my shock & disbelief, the police staff present told me that I belong to Scheduled Caste & hence they will not give me water in the same glass. Thus, I was directly abused on the basis of my caste and it is only for this reason that no drinking water was provided.”
She claimed that the cops denied her water because she belonged to the SC community. “I emphatically state that basic human rights such as drinking water was denied to me on the ground that I belong to Scheduled Caste (Neechi Zaat),” wrote the Amravati MP to Om Birla.
I emphatically state that basic human rights such as drinking waster was denied to me on the ground that I belong to Scheduled Caste (Neechi Zaat): Amravati MP Navneet Rana writes to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla
— ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2022
“Further, when I wanted to use the bathroom at the night, police staff paid no heed to my demands. I was again abused in the most filthy language…I was told that we don’t let people from Neechi Jaat Scheduled Castes use our bathrooms,” Rana had added.
The Background of the Case
MP Navneet Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana were earlier arrested by Mumbai police for planning to recite Hanuman Chalisa before Matoshree, the family residence of CM Uddhav Thackeray. Though they had later withdrawn their plan, the duo was arrested from their home. Charges of sedition were also pressed against them.
They were produced before Bandra Court on Sunday (April 24) and sentenced to 14 days in judicial custody. Both of them were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups), 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), and Section 135 of the Mumbai Police Act (violation of prohibitory orders).
The political witchhunt against the couple did not end here. Hours after a special bench of Mumbai Sessions court granted bail to independent Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana and her husband independent MLA Ravi Rana, the Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials had arrived at their home in Mumbai’s Khar to inspect alleged illegal construction done by them.
