Kangana Ranaut to appear before Mumbai court on July 4 in Javed Akhtar's defamation case

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut is scheduled to appear in a Mumbai court on July 4 in a defamation case filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar.

Kangana Ranaut on Monday sought an exemption from appearing in the hearing of Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar's petition against her before the Andheri Magistrate Court.

After Ranaut failed to appear in court today, Akhtar's lawyer, Jay Bharadwaj, urged that a non-bailable warrant be issued against Ranaut for not appearing in court on multiple occasions.

However, a little later, advocate Rizwan Siddiquee appeared for Ranaut and stated that she would be appearing before the court on July 4. The case will now be heard on July 4 at 4 pm.

Ranaut has also sought that no media be present when the Magistrate records her statement.

Akhtar had filed a defamation suit against Ranaut, claiming that she had defamed him by referring to him as a member of a particular gang in the film industry in an interview with a news channel. Ranaut gave the interview following the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14, 2020.

However, Ranaut only appeared once during the complaint hearing and later levelled several allegations against the Magistrate, which were later rejected by various Mumbai courts.

Soon after, Ranaut filed a new extortion complaint against Akhtar, which the court will hear only after Ranaut appears in court and gives her statement.