SC to hear Kangana Ranaut's plea for quashing defamation case related to 2020-21 farmers' protests
NEW DELHI: The SC is scheduled to hear on September 12 the appeal filed by actor-turned-politician, Kangana Ranaut, challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's rejection of her plea seeking quashing of a case.
The case pertains to her alleged defamatory remarks in connection with the 2020-21 farmers' protests.
As per the causelist, a two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta is scheduled to hear the appeal of Ranaut.
The actor-turned-politician has moved the top court, after the Punjab and Haryana HC, in its August 1 order, dismissed Ranaut’s plea for quashing the complaint, filed by one, 73-year-old Mahinder Kaur from Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Punjab’s Bathinda district.
The Bollywood actor has also moved the apex court challenging the summoning order issued by a Bathinda magistrate on February 22, 2022.
Kaur, in her complaint alleged that Ranaut had allegedly made “false imputations and remarks” against her by referring to her as the same “dadi”; namely Bilkis Bano, who had been part of the Shaheen Bagh protest and featured in international media coverage, including the 'Time' magazine.
Kaur further claimed that she had no connection to the Shaheen Bagh protester referenced in the tweet and that the comparison (by her) was incorrect, defamatory, and injurious to her reputation.
She filed the complaint against Ranaut under Sections 499 and 500 (Defamation) of the now-repealed Indian Penal Code (IPC) arose from a retweet by the actor.
Earlier the Punjab and Haryana HC, while dismissing Ranaut’s plea, noted in its order that the magistrate had “duly applied mind to the material on record” before issuing the summoning order.
The HC had rejected Ranaut’s plea, as it held that the commission of an offence under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC was prima facie established and that the filing of the complaint could not be considered mala fide.