Chandigarh, Sep 12 (UNI) In a setback for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, the Supreme Court today dismissed her plea to quash a defamation case filed against her.
The case stems from a controversial tweet posted by Ranaut in 2021 during the farmer's protests, where she allegedly referred to an 87-year-old woman farmer, Mahinder Kaur, as someone who participated in protests for "₹100."
The bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, rejected Ranaut’s argument that she had merely retweeted a post by a lawyer.
The court stated, "Your tweet cannot be considered just a retweet. You added your own remarks to it." The bench further directed Ranaut to present her explanation before the trial court, where the matter will be examined in detail.
The controversy began in 2021 when Ranaut commented on a post featuring a photograph of Mahinder Kaur, a resident of Bahadurgarh Jandia village in Bathinda, Punjab.
In her tweet, Ranaut claimed that women were participating in the farmer's protests for "Rs 100" and referred to Kaur as "the same dadi" featured by Time Magazine as one of India’s powerful women.
She also alleged that "Pakistani journalists" had hijacked India’s international PR, calling it a "shameful" situation. The remarks sparked widespread outrage, prompting Kaur to file a defamation case against Ranaut on January 4, 2021.
Following a 13-month legal battle, a Bathinda court issued a summon to Ranaut, directing her to appear. Ranaut’s subsequent plea for relief was rejected by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, leading her to approach the Supreme Court.
In a 2021 interview with a television channel, Mahinder Kaur, then 80, strongly refuted Ranaut’s claims. “What does Kangana know about farming? She has made baseless allegations against me,” Kaur said, emphasising the hardships of farming and dismissing the notion that she would join protests for a mere ₹100. Quoting Gurbani, Kaur advised Ranaut against speaking ill of others.
The Supreme Court’s decision marks a significant development in the ongoing legal battle, with the case now set to proceed in the trial court.
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