The
Bombay
High
Court
on
Thursday
dismissed
a
plea
filed
by
actor
Kangana
Ranaut
seeking
the
quashing
of
proceedings
initiated
against
her
by
a
local
court
on
a
criminal
defamation
complaint
filed
by
lyricist
Javed
Akhtar.
Justice
Revati
Mohite-Dere
said
in
the
order
that
there
was
no
procedural
illegality
or
irregularity
in
the
Andheri
metropolitan
magistrate's
order
initiating
the
proceedings.
Ranaut,
in
the
petition
filed
through
her
lawyer
Rizwan
Siddiquee,
had
challenged
the
defamation
proceedings
initiated
earlier
this
year,
saying
the
magistrate's
court
did
not
independently
examine
the
complainant
(Akhtar)
or
witnesses.
It
relied
solely
on
the
report
filed
by
Juhu
police,
the
petition
contended.
Advocate
Siddiquee
argued
that
the
police's
inquiry
into
Akhtar's
complaint
was
one
sided.
Also,
the
police
collected
signed
statements
from
witnesses
illegally,
he
alleged.
Akhtar's
lawyer
Jay
Bharadwaj
argued
that
the
magistrate
directed
police
inquiry
only
after
going
through
the
complaint
and
excerpts
of
the
interview
in
which
Ranaut
had
made
the
alleged
defamatory
comments.
The
police
summoned
witnesses
and
Ranaut
herself
during
its
inquriy,
but
the
actor
never
responded
to
the
summons,
he
claimed.
In
its
order,
the
HC
held
that
the
Andheri
court
had
followed
the
procedure
prescribed
by
the
Code
of
Criminal
Procedure.
The
magistrate
personally
examined
Akhtar
and
went
through
the
detailed
complaint,
the
high
court
noted.
"As
far
as
the
impugned
order
issuing
process
is
concerned,
the
same
is
not
solely
based
on
the
police
report,
but
is
a
combined
analysis
of
the
verification
of
the
statement
of
the
complainant,
averment
in
the
complaint,
the
CD/pen-drive,
police
report,
and
other
documents
on
record," the
HC
said.
The
signed
witness
statements
taken
by
the
police
were
not
illegal
and
their
credibility
can
be
examined
by
the
magistrate's
court
later
on,
Justice
Mohite-Dere
said.
Akhtar
filed
a
complaint
against
Ranaut
in
November
2020
before
the
Andheri
metropolitan
magistrate,
accusing
her
of
making
defamatory
and
baseless
comments
against
him
in
a
TV
interview.
In
December,
the
magistrate's
court
directed
the
suburban
Juhu
police
to
conduct
an
inquiry.
The
police
said
in
their
report
that
an
offense
of
defamation
was
made
out
against
Ranaut
on
the
face
of
it,
and
further
probe
was
required.
The
magistrate
then
initiated
criminal
proceedings
against
Ranaut
and
issued
a
summons
to
her
in
February
under
CrPC
section
202.
"The
(magistrate's)
order
issuing
process
dated
1st
February
2021
reflects
application
of
mind
and
hence,
warrants
no
interference," the
high
court
said.