Independent legislator couple Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana, who were arrested in connection with the Hanuman Chalisa row in Maharashtra, will remain in jail as a Mumbai court on Monday postponed its order on their bail pleas to May 4.
The couple was arrested on April 23 after they had announced that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa in front of 'Matoshree', Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's private residence in Mumbai's Bandra East area. They had later backed off on their decision, citing the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the city for an award ceremony on April 24.
Navneet Rana is a Lok Sabha MP from Amravati while her husband Ravi Rana is an MLA from Badnera.
The couple had moved court seeking bail in an FIR registered by Mumbai police under provisions related to sedition and promoting enmity. They contended that a call to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the CM's residence cannot be said to be calculated to promote feelings of enmity or hatred.
The bail plea 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.
Both the prosecution and the defence completed their arguments, after which Special Judge R.N. Rokade reserved the order for Monday.
