Special court directs Rana couple to appear before it on Mumbai police's plea seeking cancellation of their bail

A special court here 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 recitation of Hanuman Chalisa, and asked them to appear before it on May 18, pursuant to an application filed by the Mumbai police urging for their bail to be cancelled.The police sought that the couples 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.

A special court here 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, and asked them to appear before it on May 18, according to an application filed by the Mumbai police urging for their bail to be canceled.

The police sought that the couple's bail is canceled 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 then issued a notice and directed the Rana couple to appear before it on May 18.

''Issue notice to the respondents (Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana) to appear before this court on May 18,'' the court said.

Navneet Rana, the Lok Sabha member from Amravati in Maharashtra, and her husband Ravi Rana, the MLA from Badnera in Amravati, were arrested by the Mumbai police 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 here. They were booked on charges of sedition and promoting 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 offense and not to speak to the media.

On Monday, the suburban Khar police applied Pradip Gharat, seeking that the court cancels the couple's bail as they had allegedly violated the condition of not speaking to the media.

''The accused persons (Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana) have given interviews to the media since their release and hence, flouted the condition imposed by the special court while granting them bail. We are seeking for the bail to be canceled and a warrant to be issued to the accused and they are taken in custody forthwith,'' Gharat said. He further told the court that the couple has now gone to Delhi.

In the application, the police noted that the court, while granting bail to the accused, said if any of the conditions imposed by it was violated, then it would amount to the cancellation of their bail.

The accused persons, immediately after coming out of jail, started giving media bytes, saying they are willing to remain in jail for 14 years if the reading of the Hanuman Chalisa is an offense, and made several comments on CM Uddhav Thackeray, the police mentioned in their application.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)