Javed Akhtar Defamation Case: Mumbai Court Rejects Kangana’s Appeal For Pre-Trial Recording Of Her Sister’s Statement

A Mumbai court on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by an actress Kangana Ranaut requesting the court to record the witness statement of her sister Rangoli Chandel before the trial begins in the defamation complaint registered by lyricist Javed Akhtar.

The verdict was passed on Friday by Metropolitan Magistrate RM Shaikh in Andheri, Mumbai. With the dismissal of this application, the trial in Akhtar’s complaint will begin before the Magistrate on April 19, 2023.

Ranaut stated in her application filed under Section 311 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) that her sister is a material witness since she was there with Ranaut during the 2016 meeting that formed the basis of her remarks in an interview shown on a media channel.

In 2020, Akhtar filed a criminal defamation complaint against Ranaut, citing remarks aired by Ranaut on a media channel.

Ranaut submitted that former Metropolitan Magistrate RR Khan, who is now transferred, failed to record her sister’s statement.

In order to establish the actual facts, the Court ought to examine and record Chandel’s statement, according to Ranaut’s application filed through advocate Rizwan Siddiquee.

Akhtar objected to the petition, claiming that the same was not maintainable.

In a reply filed through Advocate Jay K Bharadwaj seeking dismissal of the application, Akhtar emphasised two facts that Chandel was not named as a witness in his complaint and that the manner in which the prosecution witnesses were examined was upheld by the Bombay High Court in its order dismissing Ranaut’s revision plea.

The reply further relied on judgements to demonstrate that the accused had no role to play in the prosecution witness list at the pre-cognizance stage.

Ranaut has filed revision petitions, applications, and a cross complaint in numerous criminal courts throughout Mumbai since Akhtar filed the criminal defamation suit.