Navneet & Ravi Rana's lawyer says public prosecutor 'miserably failed' to show evidence

After the Independent Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana were remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by the Bandra court's holiday bench on Sunday, their lawyer termed the entire case as 'bogus' and stated that chanting Hanuman Chalisa cannot fall under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc). Speaking to reporters, advocate Rizwan Merchant said that the public prosecutor was not able to show even a single word that was uttered allegedly by the couple's showing disaffection towards the state government. 

"When public prosecutor Pradip Gharat was called upon by us to show that particular part of the remand application or those words which were supposed to have been uttered by the accused to show disaffection towards the state govt, he miserably failed," Merchant added. He also stated the public prosecutor claimed for the first time, presumably on orders from the police department, that the case falls under Section 124A, which is sedition. Advocate Merchant also argued that if a charge of 353 IPC was filed in connection with the incident at the residence, there's no reason why it couldn't have been included in the first FIR.

"After the FIR was registered by Khar Police Station on the complaint of Navneet and Ravi Rana against the other side, a second FIR appears to be registered by the police against them," the couple's lawyer stated. Merchant further stated the police have the distinct impression that they are standing on shaky ground. "They are aware of the prospect of bail and have filed a second FIR," the senior advocate added. 

The Hanuman Chalisa row and arrest of Navneet and Ravi Rana

It is significant to mention here that Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana had announced to demonstrate against Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's residence, Matoshree, amid Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s ultimatum seeking a loudspeaker ban.

However, the duo later said that they are calling off the protests as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the state on Sunday. After the couple announced to recite Hanuman Chalisa, several Shiv Sena party workers gathered outside Matoshree to stop the duo from going ahead. Furthermore, many others gathered in front of the couple's residence and started protesting against them.

(With inputs from ANI, Image: ANI)