A metropolitan magistrates court in Mumbai on Saturday ordered police to investigate the defamation complaint of famous Bollywood lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar against actress Kangana Ranaut for her alleged personal comments made during an interview.
The lyricist had addressed the trial court last month with a defamation complaint against Ranaut. Earlier this month, on December 3, his statement was recorded by the magistrate for verification of the complaint.
On Saturday, Akhtar’s lawyer advocated action on the complaint and asked the court to take notice of it. The trial court, after hearing the arguments, ordered the Juhu police to carry out an investigation into the allegations made in the complaint and to submit a report before January 16.
The direction of the court is governed by section 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) which empowers a trial court to conduct an investigation, either by itself or by directing any authority, including the police, on any complaint that is presented to you.
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Akhtar, through his lawyer Niranjan Mundargi, had filed a private complaint on November 2 against the actor under section 499 (defamation) and section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.
Akhtar had alleged that Ranaut had defamed him during a television interview claiming that he had threatened to drop a case against actor Hrithik Roshan.
He added that Ranaut had called him part of an alleged suicide gang and claimed in the interview that Akhtar threatened her that she would have no choice but to take her own life if she did not back down.
Akhtar claimed that due to such comments, he received so many hateful calls and messages and was also controlled on social media. He argued that the posts and comments damaged his reputation.
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