Actor-MP Kangana Ranaut was granted bail by a Bathinda court in a defamation case filed by 73-year-old farmer Mahinder Kaur. The BJP leader said she never targeted anyone and regretted the “misunderstanding,” adding that every mother is respectable to her.
Actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut was granted bail by a Bathinda court in Punjab on Monday (October 27, 2025) in a defamation case filed against her by a 73-year-old woman farmer, Mahinder Kaur, over a social media post made during the 2021 farmers’ protest.
The case began after Ranaut had retweeted a post with her own comment, which allegedly misidentified Mahinder Kaur as Bilkis Bano, an activist from the Shaheen Bagh protests.
Security around the Bathinda court complex was tight as the actor arrived with her security team and police escort.
Barricades were placed all around the court premises. The court had earlier rejected her request to attend the hearing via video conference and had directed her to appear in person. She reached the court around 2 p.m.
After the hearing, Kangana Ranaut spoke to reporters and said she never made any comment against any individual.
She said,
“Whatever misunderstanding happened with the family of Mahinder [Kaur] ji, I gave a message to her husband for ‘mata ji’ about how she was the victim of a misunderstanding.”
She added,
“Never in my dreams could I imagine this, the way this controversy was created. Every ‘mata’, be she from Punjab or Himachal, is respectable to me.”
When asked if she admitted to making a mistake unknowingly, the actor said that the case was misunderstood and that there was nothing wrong from her side.
She explained,
“There was a retweet, which was used as a meme. I have also spoken and discussed this with the husband of Mahinder ji.”
Kangana further clarified that several women were featured in that meme and no specific individual was targeted. She said,
“Somebody had made a comment on the meme about many agitations taking place across the country.”
However, she expressed regret over the situation, saying she
“regretted the misunderstanding that arose from the post.”
According to Mahinder Kaur’s lawyer, Raghubir Singh Beniwal, the court granted bail to Kangana on a bond furnished by her father.
He also mentioned that the actor filed another plea seeking permanent exemption from personal appearance in the case, which he opposed.
Mr. Beniwal told the court that when Kangana was asked if she wanted to say anything, she said she wanted to apologise to the complainant, claiming that her post was not meant to target anybody.
The court then asked Mahinder Kaur’s husband, Labh Singh, about the apology. He replied that he could not decide on his own and would discuss the matter with others before making a decision on whether to accept it. The court then adjourned the case to November 24.
The complaint, originally filed in January 2021, claimed that Kangana’s tweet falsely identified Mahinder Kaur as Bilkis Bano, an elderly woman from Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh protests.
Kaur said the actor’s post made “false imputations and remarks” against her and damaged her reputation by comparing her with another protestor referred to as “dadi,” who had been featured in Time magazine.
Mahinder Kaur said she had been actively participating in farmers’ protests from the start and had no connection whatsoever with the Shaheen Bagh woman. Despite her age, she had joined other women farmers in travelling to Delhi to take part in the agitation.
Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed Kangana Ranaut’s request to quash the defamation complaint.
The High Court observed,
“There are specific allegations against the petitioner, who is a celebrity, that false and defamatory imputations by her in the retweet have dented the respondent’s reputation and lowered her in her own estimation, as also in the eyes of others. Therefore, filing of the complaint to vindicate her rights cannot be termed mala fide.”
Following this, Kangana had approached the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court’s order. However, during the hearing on September 12, the apex court told her that it was not a simple retweet and remarked that the actor “added spice” to the existing content.
After this observation from the Supreme Court, Kangana Ranaut withdrew her plea.
The case now continues before the Bathinda court, which will take up the matter again on November 24, 2025.
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