Mumbai court reserves order on Kangana Ranaut's plea to transfer Javed Akhtar's complaint
India Today
Mumbai sessions court has reserved its order on Kangana Ranaut’s plea seeking transfer of the defamation case filed by Javed Akhtar. The court will deliver the order on March 9.
The Dindoshi sessions court in Mumbai has reserved its order on actress Kangana Ranaut’s application through which she is seeking transfer of Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar's complaint against her.
Ranaut had approached the court under section 408 of the criminal procedure code which deals with the powers of a sessions court judge to transfer cases. The plea was extensively heard by Additional Sessions Judge Shridhar Bhosle on Friday, February 25, and the court will be delivering the order on March 9.
Ranaut had approached the court stating that that the offence initiated against her by Akhtar was "bailable, non-cognizable and compoundable". Despite being aware of the same, the Andheri court Magistrate RR Khan on "every given opportunity" sought to "misuse his powers and cause injury" to Ranaut even before the commencement of trial, alleged Ranaut. Advocate Rizwan Siddiquee presented media reports, including that of India Today, to show what the Magistrate had been saying in court while dealing with the case.
On the other hand, advocate Jay K Bharadwaj representing Akhtar, while dealing with the allegations, said that the very basis of Ranaut's application is "an apprehension that the Andheri Magistrate is biased. The Apex Court has clearly held that bias has to be construed from the facts and surrounding circumstances of each case and mere apprehension in the mind of the applicant is not a decisive factor." Bharadwaj alleged that Ranaut has been constantly making serious allegations and making defamatory statements against Akhtar, judiciary and investigative agencies. Bharadwaj also argued that Kangana's motive is to delay the proceedings and to harass Akhtar, who, in spite of being a senior citizen, has been diligently appearing before the Andheri Magistrate court.
Akhtar had moved the Andheri Court against Ranaut claiming that her statements aired on a news channel amounted to the offence of criminal defamation under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code. Ranaut had also filed a cross complaint against Akhtar in which she raised allegations against Akhtar of criminal conspiracy and outraging modesty by invading her privacy through criminal complaint.
Ranaut had sought transfer of her own application too from Magistrate Khan's court. However, the CMM court rejected that in December 2021 and Ranaut has not challenged that order yet.
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