Hanuman Chalisa row: Comment against CM, Shiv Sena not challenge to Maha govt, Rana couple's lawyer tells court

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is one of the representatives of the Maharashtra government carrying out ''temporary duty'' and any comment against him or his party Shiv Sena was not a challenge to the state government, the lawyer of jailed Independent legislator couple Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana told court on Saturday while arguing for their bail.

The couple was arrested on April 23 after they had announced that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa in front of 'Matoshree', the CM's private residence in Mumbai's Bandra East area.

They had later that day withdrawn the stir citing the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the city for an award ceremony on April 24.

The couple's bail plea is likely to be heard on May 2. They had moved court seeking bail in an FIR registered by Mumbai police under provisions related to sedition and promoting enmity.

The Rana couple is being represented by lawyers Abad Ponda and Rizwan Merchant. While making his submission, Ponda said he was not justifying comments against the chief minister and that elected representatives must be respected but asked if this (acts/statement by the couple) amounted to sedition.

He further submitted that the government established by law is distinguished from persons, and went on to add that ''Thackeray is not a government established by law, he is one of the representatives of the government carrying out ''temporary duty'' and any comment against Thackeray or Shiv Sena is not a challenge to the (state) government''.

The comments made by the couple could be defamatory, but it certainly is not sedition, he said.

''We have suffered enough for something we planned, could not even do it…what is going to happen if we come out of jail? Will the government come down?...What are you trying to achieve? It signals that the level of tolerance is so low in the state," the lawyer argued.

On the couple's plan to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree, the lawyer said if there was an idea about slaughtering an animal outside someone's house then it cannot be allowed. ''But where everyone is Hindu here and someone just wants to recite….reading Hanuman Chalisa outside a mosque will have different repercussions... But here it is not the case... The CM himself is a staunch Hindu,'' he told court.

''We just wanted to criticize the government.....this is like that Munnabhai film where a rose is given and not a sword...With a ritual book in hand no one would have done violence,'' he further argued.

Opposing the couple's bail, special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said, in a democracy, every citizen has the right to indulge in fair criticism if policies of the government are wrong.

Citing previous judgments, he, however, said there is a limit (for criticizing ) and it should never be crossed. Gharat told court an innocent submission has been made about what is wrong in chanting Hanuman Chalisa. ''It was never the case that chanting mantras is an offence… everybody has freedom of religion…it is about challenging the government and creating law and order problem,'' Gharat said.

''Nowadays, Hinduism has become a keyword In India. Under such circumstances, not only Hanuman Chalisa, Hinduism is also used as a card.. There are materials to say their attempt was to show that the government is weak, the law and order situation in the state is bad and the government is required to be dissolved,'' he added.

On Saturday, both prosecution and defence completed their arguments, after which Special Judge RN Rokade reserved the order for Monday.

The bail plea of the legislator couple contended that a call to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside 'Matoshree', the CM's private residence in Bandra East, cannot be said to be calculated to promote feelings of enmity or hatred.

It also said the charge under section 153(A) cannot be sustained, adding that there was no intention on the part of the applicants to instigate or create hatred by reciting Hanuman Chalisa near the CM's private home.

Their bail plea also claimed that by no stretch of imagination can the acts of the applicants be stated to constitute the offence of sedition.

It added that Mumbai police had issued notice under section 149 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the applicant had complied with it and had not stepped out of her residence.

Amravati Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana and her husband Ravi Rana, who is MLA from Badnera, had eventually dropped their plan to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree on April 23 citing the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mumbai for an award ceremony the next day.