Mumbai court asks Kangana Ranaut to file reply to Javed Akhtar's plea challenging summons to him on her complaint

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Kangana Ranaut to file reply to veteran poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar's application challenging the summons issued to him by a magistrate's court in a case filed by her. Additional sessions judge (Dindoshi court) AZ Khan, presiding over the case related to alleged criminal intimidation, issued a notice to Ranaut seeking her reply and adjourned the matter to August 24.

Akhtar moved a revision petition before the sessions court, saying the summons to him was issued by the metropolitan magistrate's court in suburban Andheri in a «hasty and inappropriate manner», which has resulted in «grave miscarriage of justice». The plea, filed through advocate Jay Bharadwaj, stated that prima facie, there is nothing on judicial record to show there was sufficient material available with the magistrate for passing the impugned order.

«The magistrate simply proceeded on the bald and unsubstantiated averments made in the complaint without ascertaining the overall factual matrix and the judicial record,» the plea said. It further stated that the magistrate failed to appreciate that serious prejudice shall be caused to the rights of the petitioner if he is made to face the trial in a time-barred matter that too where the ingredients of all the sections alleged in the complaint are not applicable.

In 2020, the 76-year-old lyricist had filed a complaint, claiming Ranaut had made defamatory statements against him in a television interview, which allegedly damaged his reputation. He alleged the «Queen» actor had dragged his name during the interview while referring to a 'coterie' existing in Bollywood, following the alleged suicide by filmstar Sushant Singh Rajput in June 2020.