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Kangana Ranaut Appears In Court For Javed Akhtar Defamation Case, Lawyer Says 'She Lost Faith In Court'
Kangana Ranaut appeared before the Andheri Magistrate court in connection with a criminal defamation complaint filed against her by lyricist Javed Akhtar on Monday
Kangana Ranaut appeared before the Andheri Magistrate court on Monday (September 20) in connection with the criminal defamation complaint filed against her by lyricist Javed Akhtar. This marked her first court appearance since summons were issued to her in February 2021.
Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court dismissed a plea filed by Ranaut seeking quashing of proceedings initiated against her by the local court. Meanwhile, on Monday Kangana's lawyer, Rizwan Siddique said he has filed an application to transfer the case from the Andheri court. He said, "This court has many times said that it will issue a warrant against her so Kangana is not comfortable this court hearing her matter."
He further stated that Kangana has "lost faith in this court. Why is she required in a bailable and compoundable and non-cognisable offence, but this court has said on multiple occasions that a warrant will be issued against her, so she is not comfortable with this court."
Kangana reportedly expressed concern claiming the court indirectly "threatened" her of issuing a warrant if she failed to appear before it in a bailable offence. She has also moved a counter-complaint in the court against Akhtar for alleged "extortion and criminal intimidation."
Siddique claimed witnesses including Kangana's sister Rangoli haven't been examined in the case yet. Meanwhile, Javed Akhtar's lawyer Jay Bharadwaj said that the sisters often used an excuse not to appear in front of the court.
Bharadwaj said, "It is nothing but a plea to delay the proceedings of the court. There have been seven to eight dates in the matter and we have pointed out to the court that she has not appeared on any of the dates."
For the unversed, Javed Akhtar had filed the complaint in November 2020 claiming Kangana had made defamatory statements against him in a television interview, which allegedly damaged his reputation.
According to PTI, Ranaut's application seeking transfer of the complaint to another court would be taken up for hearing by the magistrate court on October 1. Meanwhile, the Andheri metropolitan magistrate is set to hold a hearing for Akhtar's plea on November 15.
