The Bombay High Court dismissed the petition of MP and MLA Ravi Rana and Navneet Rana for quashing the FIR registered against them for allegedly resisting arrest over the row to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the Maharashtra CM’s residence.
MP Navneet Rana in a letter to the Lok Sabha speaker through her lawyer has alleged ill-treatment by the cops while in custody. “They have reminded her of her low caste, refused water to drink and not allowed to use the washroom,” the lawyer said. MP Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana also filed a petition for quashing the second FIR.
MP Navneet Rana used a bogus cast certificate. The Bombay High Court cancelled her caste certificate stating that she got the certificate fraudulently using fabricated documents, and also imposed a cost of Rs 2 lakh on her. The HC held that Ms Rana’s claim of belonging to the ‘Mochi’ caste for obtaining the Scheduled Caste certificate itself was fraudulent and made intending to get various benefits available to a candidate from such category, despite knowing she does not belong to that caste.
A senior cop told under the condition of anonymity, “Rana is making fake claims, why would cops remind her cast when they know she has acquired a bogus certificate? We have nothing to do with the cast of people. Our duty is to arrest a person and present them in the court”.
Taking a dig at a couple of Ravi and Navneet Rana, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said they can now recite the Hanuman Chalisa in jail. Claiming that the BJP was behind lawyer Gunaratna Sadavarte — who led the MSRTC workers’ protest at NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence—and the Ranas, Raut said this was a conspiracy to destabilise the state. Raut also alleged that Navneet had won the elections using a bogus caste certificate.
