Defamation case: Court tells Kangana to attend next hearing or face arrest

A Mumbai court on Tuesday (September 14) told actor Kangana Ranaut to remain present for the next hearing in the defamation case filed by poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar or else it will issue an arrest warrant against her.

Rizwan Siddiqui, who represented Kangana Ranaut, told the metropolitan magistrate court that the actor has not been keeping well and was showing ‘COVID-like symptoms’. Siddiqui told the court that the actor probably got COVID because she has been travelling a lot to promote her film. He asked the court to give a short date and said that Ranaut will attend the next hearing, unless her COVID-19 test result comes out positive.

Akhtar’s lawyer, Jay Bhanushali, opposed Ranaut’s plea stating that she has been delaying the case. Bhanushali told the court that Akhtar had attended almost all hearings, while Kangana Ranaut missed all the hearings (eight in all).

On Bhanushali’s plea seeking a warrant against Ranaut, the court said it will do so if the actor fails to appear for the next hearing. The court scheduled the next hearing for September 20.

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Lyricist Javed Akhtar had filed a complaint last year accusing Kangana Ranaut of making defamatory statements against him in media “in what appears to be a clear campaign to malign and tarnish (Akhtar) in the eyes of the general public”.