Kangana Ranaut challenges Mumbai court order in defamation case filed by Javed Akhtar, details inside

In November 2020, popular lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar had filed a complaint claiming the Hindi film actress Kangana had made defamatory statements against him in a television interview, which allegedly damaged his reputation.

Akhtar in his complaint claimed that Ranaut dragged his name during an interview while referring to a ‘coterie’ existing in Bollywood, following actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in June 2020.

In response, Kangana had filed a cross-complaint raising allegations against the lyricist of criminal conspiracy and outraging modesty by invading her privacy. Both the complaints were being heard by the Andheri court magistrate RR Khan. The ‘Panga’ actress has been seeking transfer of her cross-complaint to another magistrate before the sessions court.

Earlier, Kangana had approached the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court, stating that the charge against her was “bailable, non-cognizable, and compoundable.” She had also claimed that the Andheri court magistrate RR Khan sought to “misuse his powers and cause injury” to her, even before the trial had begun. In October 2021, the CMM court had dismissed her plea.

The ‘Manikarnika’ actor had filed a revision application in Dindoshi sessions court, through her advocate Rizwan Siddiquee, who had earlier said while filing the application to transfer her complaint, “This court has many times said that it will issue a warrant against her so Kangana is not comfortable this court hearing her matter.” Meanwhile, Javed Akhtar’s lawyer Jay Bharadwaj had said that every time there’s a bizarre excuse by the actress to not appear in front of the court in the defamation case filed by the lyricist.

Now, Kangana has moved to the Dindoshi sessions court and filed a new plea to transfer her cross-complaint to another competent magistrate before the sessions court. Additional sessions judge Shridhar Bhosle will now hear the plea on 27 January 2022.