MP Navneet Rana and her husband, MLA Ravi Rana, have been denied HC relief in the Hanuman Chalisa case

The Bombay High Court on Monday rejected Navneet Rana's and her MLA husband Ravi Rana's petition seeking quashing of the FIR, stating that the state government was "not unjustified in apprehending a law and order situation" when they were arrested for assault on a public servant in relation to the controversy surrounding the Hanuman Chalisa recital episode.

 

The couple's proclamation of chanting Hanuman Chalisa outside Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's personal residence constituted a "breach of personal liberty," according to a division bench of Justices PB Varale and SM Modak, and the public figures were "expected to conduct properly."

 

Second, when the state government declares that a specific religious poem will be read aloud in a public area, it is not irrational to fear that it will disrupt law and order." The HC was hearing a petition filed by the Ranas to have the second FIR lodged against them by the Khar police dismissed on grounds of preventing a police officer from performing her duty. They said that the assault on a public servant case was filed as a second FIR in connection with the incident in order to harass them and prevent them from obtaining bail.

 

The first FIR against the Ranas was filed on April 23, at 5.30 p.m., on the charge of fostering animosity. This FIR was later amended to include an allegation of sedition. On April 24, the Khar Police filed a second FIR against the Ranas for obstructing a public servant under Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code. Their lawyer, Rizwan Merchant, maintained that all of the offences were committed at the same incident. Merchant said that the police had filed two distinct FIRs "out of malice," and that if the Ranas were granted bail in the first FIR, they would be detained in the second FIR.

 

 

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