The Dindoshi (Andheri) sessions court in Bombay on August 24 stayed the summons issued to veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar in a complaint filed by Kangana Ranaut in 2021.
Javed had earlier this month moved the sessions court against a July 24 magistrate court’s order summoning him for charges relating to criminal intimidation and use of a word, gesture or act intended to outrage the modesty of a woman. The sessions court said, the summons are to be stayed until the final order on Javed Akhtar’s defamation plea. The matter was adjourned to October 18.
Javed’s lawyers, Jay Bharadwaj and Harsh Ramchandani, told the court that the magistrate failed to appreciate that the complaint was time-barred as the maximum time to file a complaint for an offence punishable up to three years’ imprisonment is three years from the date of the alleged incident. The alleged incident took place in March 2016 while the actress filed the complaint before the magistrate’s court in 2021 — i.e. five years later.
Kangana had said in her complaint that in a public dispute with Hrithik Roshan, Akhtar had called her and her sister to his residence and tried to force her to tender a written apology. She accused him of criminal intimidation and of insulting the modesty of a woman.