Read Time: 06 minutes

Lyricist Javed Akhtar moved the Bombay High Court and filed an intervention application alleging that actor Kangana Ranaut’s counsel had on Monday ‘deliberately’ made a misleading statement in the court to obtain an assurance from the Regional Passport Authority to get her passport renewed despite pending criminal cases against her.

It must be noted that on 28^th June, a Division Bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere had disposed of Ranaut’s interim applications seeking renewal of her passport, after the Passport Authority’s counsel gave an assurance that it would decide on her application expeditiously.

Kangana had moved interim pleas in HC, claiming that renewal of her passport, which is due to expire in September, was being delayed over police complaints against her and she could not travel abroad for the shooting of her upcoming film Dhakkad. The authority had renewed her passport the next day.

Advocate Siddiqui had stated then that because of the FIRs lodged in separate cases, his client isn't able to fly to Hungary as her passport expires by September and she won't be able to attend her shooting there. The entire star cast of the film has reached there. Only his client was to reach Hungary on June 15 but she's yet to go there given these FIRs.

On Friday, the lyricist filed an intervention application in Ranaut’s plea challenging copyright violation FIR, through advocate Jay Bharadwaj. In his intervention application, he stated that Ranaut should have brought; a factual position’ before the court, while she had complete knowledge of the pending criminal defamation complaint filed by him against her.

Akhtar further stated in his application that, response by Ranaut’s counsel was limited to criminal proceedings arising out of two FIRs in question and did not mention about pending criminal defamation case against her. Therefore Akhtar was required to be heard by High Court.

Previously, an Andheri magistrate court had summoned actor Kangana Ranaut in a criminal defamation complaint filed against her by lyricist Javed Akhtar for making statements against him in an interview to Republic TV in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case.

In mid-December last year, the court had directed the senior police inspector of Juhu police station to file an inquiry report after Akhtar had appeared before the court and given his statement, verifying the contents of the complaint submitted before the court.

In this complaint filed in November last year, the lyricist had stated that Kangana had made comments in an interview to Republic TV on 20 July, 2020 wherein she had called him part of a certain “gang” in context of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case. Akhtar had further stated about the social media trolling he faced as a result of her allegations.

The High Court to hear Javed Akhtar’s plea most likely in the coming week.

ALSO READ -

1)Kangana Ranaut moves Bombay HC against copyright infringement & other FIRs, also for renewal of passport

2)Court Summons Kangana in Javed Akhtar's Criminal Defamation Complaint