Kangana Ranaut plea dismissed: A plea filed by actor Kangana Ranaut seeking quashing of criminal defamation proceedings initiated by a Magistrate Court against her has been dismissed by the Bombay High Court. Justice Revati Mohite Dere pronounced this judgment.
For the unversed, veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar had filed a criminal defamation complaint against actor Kangana Ranaut over remarks she made against him in news interviews. According to Akhtar, Ranaut’s comments made in the aftermath of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s deaths, impacted his reputation negatively.
The Magistrate Court in Andheri had begun proceedings against Ranaut in February and issued a bailable warrant in March. Post that, the actor appeared before the court and applied for bail which was granted to her.
In July, Ranaut filed a petition before the High Court challenging the entire proceedings initiated by the magistrate. This included all orders and summons issued to date.
According to Ranaut, the court didn’t independently examine the complainant and was just dependent upon the Juhu police’s discretion and initiated the case against her.
The counter-affidavit, by Javed Akhtar, stated the magistrate had gone through his complaint and his statement made on oath, detailing his grievances against Ranaut.
“The MM (metropolitan magistrate) followed due process of law before proceeding to initiate the summoning order against the applicant (Ranaut)."
That it was only after considering the footage of the interview dated July 19, 2020, and detailed verification of the statement made by the respondent (Akhtar) and the statement of witnesses that the MM proceeded to issue process against the applicant (Ranaut),” read Akhtar’s affidavit. He also alleged that Ranaut was uncooperative while Police’s probe was on.
On the work front, Kangana Ranaut was busy promoting her film Thalaivii slated to release on September 10 in cinema halls.