Kangana Ranaut moves Bombay High Court seeking stay on defamation case filed by Javed Akhtar

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut has moved Bombay High Court seeking stay on defamation case filed by veteran writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar. The bench of judges- Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Manjusha Deshpande, is expected to hear the petition on January 9. How it started? Back in 2020, Akhtar filed a complaint against the _Tejas_ actress in a local court for allegedly making defamatory and baseless comments against him in television interviews. Akhtar filed the complaint before the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate, seeking action against Ranaut under the relevant provisions of the IPC for defamation. As per the complaint, Ranaut had made certain baseless comments on Akhtar which has caused damage to the reputation of the veteran poet-lyricist. It added that Ranaut dragged Akhtar’s name while referring to a “coterie” existing in Bollywood following the death of actor  Sushant Singh Rajput in June 2020. She had also claimed that Akhtar had threatened her to not speak about her alleged relationship with actor Hrithik Roshan, it said. All these statements made by Ranaut garnered views in lakhs and thus tarnished Akhtar’s reputation, the complaint said.

In 2021,  Ranaut  also moved a counter complaint in the court against Akhtar for alleged “extortion and criminal intimidation”, and her lawyer informed the court that they had filed an application before chief metropolitan magistrate, seeking transfer of hearing into the complaint to another court.

Javed Akhtar summoned by magistrate court of Mumbai in August 2023 Akhtar had been summoned by a magistrate court of Mumbai over actor Kangana Ranaut’s complaint back in July. The complaint was filed by the actress against the veteran writer and lyricist under section 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (insult to the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code. Akhtar is asked to appear before the Andheri court on August 5. With added inputs from agencies