In the Farmer Protest Retweet Row a Court in punjab orders Kangana Ranaut to appear in person on October 27 in a defamation case, rejecting her request to attend via video conferencing. Case relates to her controversial comments on Mahinder Kaur during 2020-21 protests.
A court ordered actor and MP Kangana Ranaut to appear in person on October 27 for a defamation case, denying her request to attend via video conferencing.
The case arises from a retweet where Ranaut commented on Mahinder Kaur, a complainant from Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Punjab’s Bathinda district, during the farmer protests of 2020-21 against the now-repealed farm laws.
Ranaut’s legal team submitted an application asking for an exemption from physical attendance. However, after considering arguments from both parties, the court rejected this request.
Advocate Raghubir Singh Beniwal, representing Mahinder Kaur, stated,
“We opposed Kangana Ranaut’s application because the law does not provide for an accused to be exempted from appearance at the initial stage of the case. We requested the court to ensure her presence, and in case of absence, to issue arrest warrants.”
The 73-year-old complainant claimed that Ranaut defamed her in the post on Twitter, now known as X, by inaccurately identifying her as Bilkis Bano, a prominent figure from the Shaheen Bagh protests.
Kaur’s complaint noted that Ranaut made “false imputations and remarks” by comparing her to the woman involved in the Shaheen Bagh protests.
An earlier application to dismiss the case filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court was rejected.
Following this, Ranaut approached the Supreme Court, which, on September 12, indicated that the matter was not merely about a retweet, suggesting that the actor-politician had “added spice” to the existing dialogue.
Subsequently, Ranaut withdrew her plea.