Actor Kangana Ranaut appeared before an Andheri court today in the defamation case filed against her by lyricist Javed Akhtar. Through counsel, she filed a counter-complaint against Akhtar alleging extortion and invasion of privacy.
Kangana Ranaut’s lawyer, advocate Rizwan Siddiqui also informed that the actor has filed an application before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court seeking a transfer of the case to another court since she has “lost faith” in the court. The transfer application will be heard on 1 October. Adv Siddiqui also asked why the court insists that Ranaut appear in court since it’s a bailable case.
Earlier, a Mumbai court had warned Ranaut that failure to appear in the next hearing (20 September) would lead to an arrest warrant. Advocate Siddiqui had sought an exemption from appearance citing that Ranaut was sick due to travelling and had to be tested for COVID-19. After Kangana Ranaut appeared in court on Monday, the matter was adjourned to 15 November.
Javed Akhtar had filed a defamation case against Ranaut in 2020 accusing her of defamation referring to comments she made during an interview on Republic TV, after late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
On Thursday (9 September), the Bombay High Court had dismissed a plea filed by Kangana Ranaut which sought to quash the criminal proceedings initiated against her based on Akhtar’s complaint.
Ranaut’s counsel had argued that the Magistrate had ordered an inquiry against his client “mechanically,” but Javed Akhtar’s lawyer Jay Bharadwaj maintained that “the magistrate had applied his mind to direct an inquiry after examining Mr Akhtar's complaint".
Justice Revati Mohiti-Dere said that she found no procedural irregularities in the Magistrate court’s proceedings.
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