Mumbai: Amravati MP Navneet Rana and MLA Ravi Rana have filed a bail plea. The Mumbai session court will now hear the bail plea on April 29. The Court has asked the Special Public Prosecutor to submit its reply by the date of the scheduled hearing.
Speaking with ANI after court’s order Rizwan Merchant, the advocate of the Rana couple said, “The court has a lot of workload, so we have accepted the bail application’s reply for April 29, after which the court will decide further hearing; it can happen on April 29 & later as well.”
On Monday, Merchant had withdrawn their bail plea. Their bail plea was pending before the magistrate court. On Sunday, Magistrate Court had remanded them to 14-day judicial custody.
Following their public announcement of reciting the Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence, the legislator couple is seeking an in a FIR filed by the Mumbai Police on accusations of sedition and fostering enmity.
Merchant said, “The suburban Khar police had initially booked the Ranas on the charge of promoting enmity between different groups. At the time of their remand, the police had informed the magistrate court that they had added the charge of sedition against the couple in the first FIR.”
He added, “The charge of sedition under 124 A of the Indian Penal Code carried a minimum sentence of seven years and a maximum punishment of life term. Therefore, bail for an offence of sedition was outside the jurisdiction of the magistrate court.”
He further added, “A charge of sedition under section 124 A of the Indian Penal Code carries a minimum sentence of seven years and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. As a result, bail for a sedition offence fell outside the magistrate court’s authority.”
Hence Ranas decided to withdraw the previous application and filed a fresh bail plea before the sessions court, he added.
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