The metropolitan magistrate court on Monday issued summons to actor Kangana Ranaut to appear on March 1 on a criminal complaint filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar alleging defamatory statements made by the actor about him.
After the directive, the Juhu police station, which is probing the case, informed the court that offences alleged by Mr. Akhtar required further investigation. A copy of the report was submitted to the court along with a video clip of the interview. Advocate appearing for Mr. Akhtar told the court that despite summons by the Juhu police, Ms. Ranaut had not appeared before them. Then metropolitan magistrate R.R. Khan issued summons to the actor to appear in court on March 1.
It was alleged that on July 19, Ms. Ranaut gave an interview in which she made defamatory statements against Mr. Akhtar by linking him with the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. A criminal complaint was filed on November 3 before the Andheri metropolitan magistrate under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
In his complaint, Mr. Akhtar has alleged that Ms. Ranaut dragged his name while referring to a “coterie” existing in Bollywood following Rajput’s death. She had also claimed that Mr. Akhtar had threatened her to not speak about her alleged relationship with actor Hrithik Roshan, the complaint said.
Mr. Akhtar filed the complaint under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. The application mentions the interview given by the actor to a channel.
