Kangana Ranaut Says She Is Unwell, Gets Exemption From Court Appearance In Javed Akhtar Defamation Case

Kangana Ranaut was granted an exemption from appearance by the 10th Metropolitan Magistrate court in Mumbai on Tuesday (January 4) in the complaint filed against her by Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar. The actress was set to appear for the hearing to record her statement, however, Advocate Rizwan Siddiquee argued that her plea could be recorded by the lawyer.

Advocate Rizwan on Tuesday, sought exemption for Kangana from her appearance while stating that she was travelling and she was also under the weather. While the actress was exempt for the day, the court has stated that according to the procedure, the actress will have to appear in person to record her statement.

Earlier, Ranaut had claimed that the Magistrate has been harassing her and had approached the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court asking the case to be transferred to another court. After her second plea to Dindoshi court was also rejected, Siddiquee on Tuesday told the court that the actress will be approaching the Bombay High Court.

Meanwhile, Akhtar's lawyer Jay Bharadwaj, opposed the exemption saying Kangana knew well in advance that she had to appear in court on January 4, and that the entire trial is getting delayed due to Ranaut's non-appearance. According to reports, Akhtar himself was present before the court.

After the Magistrate allowed Ranaut an exemption from appearance for the day, Siddiquee reminded the court that Ranaut had filed another application seeking permanent exemption from appearance in the case.

The court has decided that the application will be looked into on further hearing on February 1, along with Akthar's application for issuance of a Non-Bailable Warrant against Ranaut.