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Akhtar, in his reply, also stated that Ranaut had not challenged the stay granted by the Sessions Court on the summons issued to him by the trial court and that the entire petition was based on assumptions
In response to the petition filed by Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut seeking a stay on the defamation case, lyricist Javed Akhtar has submitted before the high court that Kangana is attempting to delay the proceedings in the defamation case.
“The present Writ Petition is not maintainable inasmuch as the Petitioner has failed to establish any basis for invoking the Writ jurisdiction. At the same time, the present petition is only filed to delay the proceedings before the Ld. 10th MM, Andheri. This is when the Petitioner has already taken numerous adjournments to delay the matter,” the plea reads.
The reply was filed by Akhtar in response to the petition filed by Kangana Ranaut, who sought a stay on the defamation case filed by Akhtar after an interview with Ranaut aired on Republic TV.
Ranaut had also filed a cross-complaint against Akhtar, alleging criminal conspiracy, extortion, and invasion of privacy.
However, it was only in July 2023 that the magistrate court dropped extortion charges against Akhtar and summoned him for other charges.
Akhtar subsequently filed an application before the Sessions Court. The Sessions Court stayed criminal proceedings against Akhtar until his revision application before the court was heard.
Nonetheless, the defamation case filed by Akhtar against Ranaut continued. Ranaut claimed that the cross-cases arose from the same incident that occurred in March 2016, and thus, they were clubbed together to be heard and tried simultaneously by the same magistrate.
The matter was listed today before the division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Manjusha Despande. The bench asked the registry to verify whether the matter should be heard by the division bench or a single-judge bench.
Akhtar, in his reply, also stated that Ranaut had not challenged the stay granted by the Sessions Court on the summons issued to him by the trial court and that the entire petition was based on assumptions.
“Ranaut is not challenging any judicial order passed by a court but has based the entire writ petition on assumptions and presumptions coupled with an unwarranted optimism of the proceedings pending in courts below," the plea states.
Case title: Kangana Ranaut vs State of Maharashtra & Anr
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