Mumbai: Kangana Ranaut’s petition, seeking transfer of the defamation case filed against her by lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar, was on Thursday rejected by a metropolitan magistrate’s court.
Kangana filed a plea last month stating that she had “lost faith”, so the case be reallocated before another judge at Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate’s court.
Kangana’s lawyer Rizwan Siddiqui had said in the petition that while offences against her are cognizable, compoundable and bailable, an arrest warrant was issued against her.
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Akhtar opposed Kangana’s plea, with his lawyer Jay Bharadwaj stating that while the Andheri court had observed in February that a prima facie case of defamation was made out, her “wilful absence” delayed the case and “caused further harassment” to the lyricist.
Bharadwaj further contended that while Kangana had challenged the Andheri court’s order issuing process against her before Bombay High Court, the latter upheld the procedure followed.
Akhtar’s case is based on interviews given by Kangana after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput last year, and claims that she had defamed him.
