Actress Kangana Ranaut has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of proceedings initiated by the city magistrate against musician Javed Akhtar on a criminal defamation complaint.
Kangana Ranaut
In the appeal filed through advocate Rizwan Siddiqui, Ranaut claimed that the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate’s court initiated proceedings against him by relying only on the police report and did not independently examine the witnesses. Akhtar had filed a criminal complaint against Ranaut before a magistrate in November 2020 for allegedly making defamatory and baseless remarks against him in television interviews.
The court in December directed the suburban Juhu police to conduct a probe. The police, in its report, said that the crime had taken place and further investigation was needed. On this the court initiated criminal proceedings against Ranaut and issued summons to her in February 2021.
Kangana Ranaut
The actress has said in the petition, “The Metropolitan Magistrate did not use his powers to conduct the investigation but instead used the police machinery to collect the statements of the signed witnesses. This has never been heard.” The petition said that there is apprehension that the police influenced the witnesses and the magistrate should have recorded the statements of the witnesses along with the affidavit so as to “prove that a genuine case was made out”. Kangana’s petition can be heard in the week.