MUMBAI: Lyricist Javed Akhtar on Monday told the Bombay High Court bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere that actress Kangana Ranaut has scant regard for the laws of the land and that she just wants to delay the proceedings initiated against her on a complaint he filed. The bench will hear the matter on August 18.
Ranaut is facing criminal proceedings for allegedly defaming Akhtar by calling him a member of the "suicide gang" whom she alleged are responsible for the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
After her interview went viral on social media, the lyricist had filed a plea before the Magistrate court in Andheri which, upon considering the material on record, issued summons to Ranaut and also initiated the other relevant criminal proceedings.
It is these proceedings that Ranaut through her counsel Rizwan Siddiqui challenged before Justice Mohite-Dere claiming that due procedure wasn't followed while initiating the proceedings. She claimed that the Magistrate didn't examine the witnesses in the case and also the complainant Akhtar, as mandated by Section 200 of the Criminal Code of Procedure (CrPC).
However, Akhtar has countered the claims through his counsel Jay Bharadwaj, stating that Section 200 provides for examination of the complainant on oath and witnesses only if there is any.
According to Akhtar, the Magistrate has followed the due pocedure of law and the present proceedings before Justice Mohite-Dere by Ranaut are just an attempt to delay the proceedings before the Magistrate.
"The present petition is filed with the sole intent to delay the proceedings without there being any basis whatsoever. It is also a matter of fact that for last 5 dates, she has not been appearing before Magistrate on one pretext or the other," Akhtar's affidavit reads.
The seasoned lyricist has further pointed out that despite summons being issued to Ranaut, she didn't appear before the court and instead made certain comments through her Twitter handle, when it was operational, and that this shows "that she has scant regard for the laws of the land and the judicial process."
The matter would be heard next on August 18.
