A metropolitan magistrate court on Saturday directed the police to conduct a probe into the criminal complaint filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar against alleged defamatory statements made by actor Kangana Ranaut against him.
Advocate Niranjan Mundargi, appearing for Mr. Akhtar, told The Hindu that he argued that an interview by Ms. Ranaut had defamatory statements against him linking him with the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The interview was conducted on July 19 and telecast the next day. It got more than 6 million views and defamed him.
Mr. Akhtar filed the complaint under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Andheri magistrate court directed the Juhu police to submit a report after conducting the investigation and adjourned the matter to be heard on January 16.