The Mumbai Police on Monday filed an application in a city court seeking to cancel the bail granted to Independent MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana in a sedition case, PTI reported.
The sessions court has issued a notice to the Ranas asking them to respond to the plea. The court will hear the matter on May 18.
On April 23, the Mumbai Police had arrested the couple for threatening to recite the Hanuman Chalisa – a hymn dedicated to the Hindu deity Hanuman – in front of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s home.
Even though they did not gone ahead with their plan, the police had booked them under Indian Penal Code Sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 34 (common intention).
While granting bail to the Ranas on May 4, a Mumbai court had asked them not to speak to the media about the case or take part in activities for which they had been booked, as their bail conditions.
However, on Sunday, Navneet Rana spoke to reporters and challenged Thackeray to contest an election against her. The couple also told mediapersons that they were willing to remain in jail for 14 years if reciting the Hanuman Chalisa was an offence, PTI reported.
On Monday, Special Public Prosecutor Pradip Gharat told the court that this amounted to a violation of bail conditions.
“We are seeking for the bail to be cancelled and a warrant to be issued to the accused and they be taken in custody forthwith,” Gharat said, according to PTI. Special Judge RN Rokade then issued a notice to the couple.
We will approach the prime minister, say Ranas
Meanwhile, the Ranas have alleged that they had been ill-treated in jail by the authorities. On Monday, they said that they would approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah with their complaint, PTI reported.
“We are going to Delhi today [Monday] and meet all the leaders who respect women,” Navneet Rana told reporters. “I am going to meet the prime minister, home minister and Lok Sabha Speaker and tell them how we were ill-treated from a lockup to jail.”
After they were released from jail on May 5, Navneet Rana had been admitted to a hospital after she complained of high blood pressure, body ache and spondylitis. She was discharged on Sunday.
While in jail, Navneet Rana had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla alleging that she had been denied water in custody because she was a Dalit. However, following her complaint, Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey had posted a video on Twitter where she could be seen drinking tea in custody. Bottles of mineral water were also kept in front of Navneet Rana and her husband.
On Monday, Navneet Rana also told reporters that she had not violated the court’s orders by speaking to the media after her release, PTI reported.
“We did not talk about the offence, how it was registered against us[...],” she said. “We spoke about how I was ill-treated from the lockup to jail and how my health issues were ignored.”
The Ranas’ lawyer, Advocate Rizwan Merchant, said that they will oppose the Mumbai Police’s application, India Today reported. Merchant said that his clients have not spoken to the media about the case, but as “public representatives on issues of their constituents”.
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