A case has been registered against actor Prakash Raj in a Lucknow court for his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will be heard on October 7.
Raj had criticized the prime minister for his silence over the murder of senior Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh.
Earlier on October 3, at an event in Bengaluru, the actor had said, "Gauri Lankesh's killers have not been caught yet. But what is more disappointing is people celebrating her murder over social media and spreading hatred. Some of these people who celebrated her (Gauri's) murder are followed by our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) on Twitter. We have a PM, who shuts his eyes to this."
The actor further stated that, Prime Minister Modi's continued silence is worrying and he has continued to follow some people on social media, who had celebrated Lankesh's killing.
Raj also added that Prime Minister Modi was a better actor than him, and that he should, maybe, therefore, give the acting awards he had won to him.
Later that day, Prakash Raj posted a video on Twitter, clarifying that he had no intentions of returning his National Awards and would be a "fool" to do so.