Key points:-
• A metropolitan magistrate’s court had summoned Ranaut based on the complaint of Akhtar in which he had alleged that Ranaut had made defamatory statements on national and international television.
• The Juhu police, which was directed to conduct an inquiry, submitted a detailed report to the court as well.
A metropolitan magistrate’s ourt had summoned Ranaut based on the complaint of Akhtar in which he had alleged that Ranaut had made defamatory statements on national and international television, “in what appears to be a clear campaign to malign and tarnish the reputation of the complainant (Akhtar) in the eyes of the general public”. Akhtar had recorded his statement in January.
A month after issuing summons to actor Kangana Ranaut, a Mumbai court on Monday issued bailable warrant against the Bollywood actor after she failed to appear before court in a defamation case filed by poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar.
He had said that he was shocked to learn that on July 19, Ranaut in an interview to a TV channel falsely attributed statements to him while also giving her opinion on the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput “without appearing to have any direct personal knowledge of the circumstances around his death”.
The Juhu police, which was directed to conduct an inquiry, submitted a detailed report to the court as well.
On February 1, the Andheri court, after hearing arguments made on Akhtar’s behalf by lawyer Niranjan Mundergi, issued process against Ranaut for the offences under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to defamation. The court had considered Akhtar’s statement made on oath before it and other material including the TV interview and the police report while deciding to summon Ranaut.
Akhtar was also present in the court on the day. As per law, Ranaut had the option of either challenging the court’s order summoning her or appear before it and deny the charges made against her.
