The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday dismissed BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s petition seeking to quash a defamation complaint and the corresponding summons issued by a Bathinda court.
The complaint relates to a retweet by Ranaut during the 2020-21 farmers’ protests, in which she mistakenly identified the complainant, 73-year-old Mahinder Kaur from Bahadurgarh Jandian village, Punjab, as Bilkis Bano, a prominent figure from the Shaheen Bagh protests.
Ranaut’s tweet suggested that the “Shaheen Bagh dadi” had participated in the farmers’ agitation at Delhi border points, which Kaur claimed damaged her reputation.
Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya upheld the complaint, stating that Ranaut’s remarks were defamatory and had harmed the complainant’s dignity.
“The complaint was rightly filed to protect the complainant’s rights and cannot be dismissed as frivolous,” the court said.
The bench also affirmed that the Bathinda Magistrate thoroughly examined the evidence before summoning Ranaut under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code.
The petition was filed under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, seeking to quash charges under Sections 499 and 500 IPC and to annul the summons issued in February 2022.
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