A sessions court in Bombay on March 20 rejected a revision plea by noted Bollywood writer-lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar after a magistrate’s court issued him summons over his allegedly defamatory comments on RSS in a 2021 interview. In his plea, Javed said that the petitioner had not placed on record a single document which could establish his locus standi to file the complaint on behalf of the RSS.
In a plea, advocate Santosh Dubey said that Akhtar had succeeded in defaming the RSS through his defamatory statement. “I have cited names of some persons as witnesses who approached me after reading/viewing the interview, as they are aware that I am a volunteer, Swayamsevak, supporter of RSS.” He added that he felt defamed due to that. “A large number of people in India and abroad, including Mulund locality, had viewed, seen, read YouTube link, online news portal, newspapers. Various persons of Mulund locality asked me about the genuineness of the defamatory statement,” Dubey said.
