Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has approached the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on the proceedings before a Magistrate court in a defamation complaint filed by Bollywood Lyricist Javed Akhtar.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Manjusha Deshpande are scheduled to hear the petition on January 9.
Akhtar’s defamation complaint stems from a television interview in 2020, where Ranaut mentioned a meeting with him in March 2016. This meeting became a focal point in the ongoing legal dispute between the two. In 2016, Kangana Ranaut and actor Hrithik Roshan were involved in a publicized conflict, leading to headlines and an exchange of emails. Javed Akhtar, reportedly close to the Roshans, self-appointed himself to mediate and urged Ranaut to apologize to Hrithik Roshan.
During a televised interview in 2021, Ranaut described the 2016 meeting, prompting Akhtar to file a defamation complaint against her. In response, Ranaut filed a cross-complaint against Akhtar, raising allegations of criminal conspiracy, extortion, and outraging modesty by invading her privacy.
On July 24, 2023, a Magistrate court in Andheri dropped the charge of extortion against Akhtar but summoned him to appear before the court for offences under Sections 506 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Akhtar filed a revision challenging the summons order before the Sessions Court at Dindoshi, and the sessions judge stayed the order and the criminal proceedings pending the final hearing of the revision application.
In her plea before the Bombay High Court, Ranaut seeks a stay on the trial arising from Akhtar’s complaint, arguing that both her complaint and Akhtar’s complaint stem from the same incident and should be tried together to avoid conflicting judgments. She contends that staying Akhtar’s case until the revision application is decided would be in the interest of justice, emphasizing that her case will unveil the truth of the dispute. The plea also states that allowing Akhtar’s trial to proceed while hers is stayed would go against established principles of natural justice.
This is not the first time Kangana Ranaut has approached the High Court regarding the matter. She had earlier filed a quashing petition seeking to quash the complaint filed by Akhtar, but that petition was dismissed in 2021.
