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.