The Mumbai Police have summoned actor Kangana Ranaut on Friday in connection with the defamation complaint filed against her by lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar, ANI reported.
Ranaut was asked to report to the police station in Juhu. In December, a court in Mumbai had directed the police to investigate Akhtar’s complaint against her.
During the court hearing on December 19, Akhtar’s lawyer Niranjan Mundargi had told Metropolitan Magistrate RR Khan that Ranaut unnecessarily dragged the lyricist’s name in an interview in July with Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, while speaking about the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
The lawyer added that Ranaut falsely accused Akhtar of being a part of a Bollywood “suicide gang” that could “get away with anything”. He said that Akhtar had been receiving hate messages due to Ranaut’s comments.
Also read: Mumbai court orders police to probe Javed Akhtar’s defamation complaint against Kangana Ranaut
After hearing his arguments, the court had also directed the Juhu police station to submit its investigation report by January 16.
Akhtar had filed the complaint against Ranaut in November, accusing her of trying to tarnish his reputation. He added that Ranaut’s comments about him in connection with Rajput’s death had caused “irreparable damage”.
Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14, in what the police initially said appeared to be a case of suicide. After his death, an acrimonious back-and-forth had started between Ranaut and the Shiv Sena led-Maharashtra government.
The actor had criticised the handling of the Rajput’s death case by the Mumbai Police and said she didn’t feel safe in the city. The matter escalated when she compared Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Centre provided Ranaut Y-Plus security cover amid the fracas.
Ranaut is also facing a sedition case for allegedly trying to create hatred and communal tension through her social media posts. A court in Mumbai had on October 17 directed the police to file a first information report against Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel after a complaint by casting director Munnawarali Sayyed.
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