Following an apology from Kangana Ranaut, writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar has withdrawn his defamation case against her. The settlement, which took place today (February 28) in the chamber of magistrate Ashish Awari at Bandra (Bombay), brings to an end a four-year-long legal battle between the veteran writer and the actress. Kangana, who had filed a counter-defamation case against Akhtar, will also withdraw the case.
Kangana Ranaut apologised to Javed Akhtar for all the inconvenience she caused to him. She described her remarks, made against Javed Akhtar in 2020 in the aftermath of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide, as “a misunderstanding”. Retracting her statements, the actress-MP vowed not to make any such comments in the future.
The statement made by Kangana reads:
“The statements made by me in the interview dated 19th July, 2020 and thereafter were a result of misunderstanding. I hereby unconditionally withdraw all the statements made by me in the interview dated 19th July, 2020 and thereafter, and I undertake not to repeat the same in future. I apologise for the inconvenience caused to Mr. Javed Akhtar who is one of the senior members of the film fraternity, and I have the highest regards for him.”
The legal dispute between the two dates back to a meeting at Javed’s residence in March 2016. At that time, Kangana and Hrithik Roshan were embroiled in a controversy and involved in a public spat over allegedly exchanged mails. Javed Akhtar took it upon himself to intervene and allegedly asked Kangana to apologise to Hrithik. Although the actress did not do so, she referred to the said meeting, in a television interview in 2020 and made disparaging remarks about Javed. The writer-poet-lyricist filed a defamation case against her.
Kangana filed a counter-complaint against Javed, alleging that he attempted to coerce her into apologising under pressure. The proceedings against Javed have since been stayed by the Dindoshi sessions court in Bombay.
With the out-of-court settlement, the defamation cases filed by Javed Akhtar (against Kangana Ranaut) and by Kangana (against Javed) stand withdrawn.
Javed Akhtar was represented in the case by advocate Jaykumar Bhardwaj. Rizwan Siddiqui represented Kangana Ranaut.
