Court Rejects Discharge Plea Of MP Navneet Rana, MLA Husband In Hanuman Chalisa Row

A special court here on Tuesday rejected the discharge application filed by Independent Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana in a 2022 case of resisting arrest and obstructing cops from performing their duty linked to a controversy over reciting the Hanuman Chalisa, observing, prima facie, that there was enough evidence against them.

The lawmaker couple has been booked under Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly resisting and obstructing police personnel, who visited their residence in suburban Khar for arresting them after they announced a plan to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside the private residence of then Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in Bandra.

Special judge of the court for MP-MLA cases, R N Rokade, rejected the couple's plea seeking discharge in the case, saying prima facie there was enough evidence against the applicants based on the statements of witnesses.

Thus, a crime under section 353 of the Indian Penal Code is made out, the judge noted.

Discharge is a stage that comes after a chargesheet has been filed in a case, but before charges are framed by the court concerned against an accused. Under this legal remedy, an accused is entitled to be discharged from a case if evidence provided to the court is not sufficient to prove the offence.

In the discharge plea filed through advocate Rizwan Merchant, the politicians, currently out on bail, claimed the Mumbai police's chargesheet against them has been "doctored and engineered" merely to malign and harm their reputation so that they can succumb to pressure tactics and political agendas.

The police had arrested the Ranas in April 2022 following their announcement to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Thackeray's private residence 'Matoshree' in suburban Bandra, a move which angered workers of the undivided Shiv Sena and led to tension in the area.

The couple had later dropped the plan, citing a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mumbai. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)