A special court here on Wednesday granted bail to independent MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana, who was arrested for reciting Hanuman Chalisa in a row. Mumbai police arrested the couple on April 23 after publicly announcing that they were “at the private residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Bandra district”. Reciting Hanuman Chalisa inside and outside Matoshree.

They were registered under various IPC regulations, including charges of sedition and incitement to hatred. On Wednesday, Special Judge R N Rokade granted their bail request. The court said the applicant must not commit similar offences while on bail and must not speak to the media on any subject related to the case.

In their bail pleas, made through defenders Rizwan Merchant and Abad Ponda, the couple claimed that calling for the recitation of Hanuman Chalisa outside CM’s private residence ‘Matoshree’ cannot be said to be an act of fostering hostility or hatred. Therefore, charges under Section 153(A) of the IPC cannot be established.

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They also asked whether, in any event, the applicant’s conduct amounted to an offence of incitement. Police, represented by Special Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat, opposed the bail request, saying the couple’s plan, which appeared innocent on the surface, was a grand conspiracy to challenge the ruling government. Police said the state’s opposition BJP and political opponents of Thackeray were trying to create an atmosphere that suggested the chief minister was an anti-Hindu rather than a pro-Hindu cause.