Amravati MP Navneet Kaur Rana with husband MLA Ravi Rana
Mumbai sessions court is currently hearing the plea for bail of Independent Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband and MLA Ravi Rana. The court will pass its judgment soon.
The couple was arrested on April 23 after they gave a call to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence ‘Matoshree.’ The Ranas eventually dropped their plan, but were arrested by the police and booked for sedition and `promoting enmity between different groups’.
They are currently in judicial custody. While Navneet Rana is lodged in Byculla prison, her husband is in Taloja jail in neighboring Navi Mumbai.
India TV brings you LIVE updates from the court.
Arguments from the defendants, aka the Ranas
- Do I need permission to read Hanuman Chalisa outside Gateway of India, then why do I need permission to read HC outside CM’s office… why am I kept in jail.
- We are elected representatives, every piece of evidence is documented
- Criticism is the hallmark of the democracy… You have managed to silence me, you have managed to stop me. Criticism of government is the essence of democracy. In fact, democracy is a criticism of the govt
- If you are afraid of any untoward incident after releasing me, you can put whatever conditions you want.
- We are not challenging Matoshree, we just wanted to go out to Matoshree but we were silenced
- We never made any statement against Islamic community. Had we given a call to chant Hanuman Chalisa outside a mosque, I can understand that it could have fanned religious tensions but giving a call to chant it outside Matoshree doesn’t fan any communal tension:
- My act was not sedition… it would not be right to keep in jail. violence was never my intention
- Only having an intent to commit a crime can’t be punished. Executing some intent and actually committing an offense can be punished. There is a difference in attempt & preparation.
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