Kangana gets bail in defamation case, says regrets ‘misunderstanding’, respects every mother
The court had last September directed the BJP MP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh to be present in person and rejected his request to appear through video conferencing.
Security has been beefed up in and around the Bathinda court complex ahead of the actor’s appearance. He arrived accompanied by security guards and local police.
The courthouse was hidden behind police barricades.
The defamation case stems from a retweet by the actor with his own take on the 73-year-old complainant, Mahinder Kaur, from Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Punjab’s Bathinda district.
This comment was made in 2021 during farmers’ protests against the now repealed farm laws. Wearing a sari and sunglasses, Ranaut reached the court complex around 2 pm. He later told reporters that he had not made any comments against anyone.
“Whatever misunderstanding there was in Mahinder (Kaur) ji’s family, I gave a message to her husband for ‘mata ji’ about what kind of misunderstanding she was the victim of,” he later told reporters. he said.
Mahinder Kaur was not in court but her husband was there.
“Never in my dreams could I have imagined the way this controversy was created. Every ‘mata’, be it from Punjab or Himachal, is respectable to me,” Ranaut said.
When asked if he admitted that he made a mistake unknowingly, he said that when looked at correctly, it was not his fault.
“There was a retweet that was used as a meme. I also spoke and discussed this issue with Mahinder ji’s husband,” he said.
He claimed that there were many women in this meme and that no comments were made against any individual.
He said someone commented on the many agitations taking place across the country about the meme.
However, Ranaut said she regretted the misunderstanding caused by the post.
Mahinder Kaur’s lawyer Raghubir Singh Beniwal said the court granted bail to Ranaut on bail provided by her father.
Beniwal said Ranaut had filed another plea, seeking permanent immunity from appearing in court in person, but he opposed it.
After the court asked the actor if he wanted to say anything, Beniwal said he wanted to apologize to the complainant, claiming that his post was not targeting anyone.
The lawyer said when the court asked Mahinder Kaur’s husband Labh Singh, he told the court that he could not decide on his own and would discuss the matter with others before discussing whether an apology could be accepted or not.
The court sent the file to 24 November.
In a complaint filed in Bathinda in January 2021, Mahinder Kaur alleged that the BJP MP had defamed her by falsely identifying her as activist Bilkis Bano, who made headlines during the 2020 Shaheen Bagh protest.
Mahinder Kaur said the actor had made “false accusations and statements” against her in the retweet, comparing her to “dadi” who was part of the Shaheen Bagh protest.
He said he has been a part of dharnas and demonstrations since the beginning of the farmers’ protest.
Even though he was old, he went to Delhi along with others to join the agitation.
Mahinder Kaur said that she has absolutely no connection with the Shaheen Bagh woman featured in Time magazine.
Ranaut moved the top court challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order refusing to quash the complaint against her.
In its decision on August 1, the high court rejected Ranaut’s plea and said, “There are specific allegations against the petitioner, who is a celebrity, that the false and defamatory allegations made by her during the retweet have damaged the reputation of the respondent and lowered her in the eyes of herself and others. Therefore, filing a complaint to defend her rights cannot be termed as mala fide.” he said.
However, the apex court told Ranaut on September 12 that it was not a simple retweet and that the actor-politician was “adding spice” to the existing one.
Ranaut later withdrew her defense.
