Kangana Ranaut on 10th March approached a sessions court to challenge a bailable warrant issued by the Andheri (Bombay) metropolitan magistrate in a defamation complaint filed against her by writer-lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar. Her plea will be heard on 15th March.
The Andheri metropolitan magistrate court had on March 1 issued a bailable warrant against Kangana after she failed to appear in court in the defamation case filed by Akhtar. The magistrate had issued summons to her on February 1, to remain present in court on March 1. However, Kangana neither attended the court nor sent any explanation for her absence. The magistrate, therefore, issued a bailable warrant against her and posted the matter for hearing on March 26. The magistrate had said that the actress was at liberty to approach a higher court to challenge the summons of February 1 but she could not evade appearance in court.
Earlier, the police had submitted a report on Javed Akhtar’s complaint, which said that a prima facie offence of defamation was made out against the actress. Javed had accused Kangana of making false allegations against him and tarnishing his reputation when she referred to him in a television interview as being part of a coterie in Bollywood, in the aftermath of Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide in June last year.