Defamation case: Bathinda court dismisses Kangana’s plea to appear virtually
Upon hearing the matter, judicial magistrate first class Lakhbir Singh directed Kangana to appear before the court in person on the next date, October 27
A Bathinda court on Monday dismissed a petition moved by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarian and film actor Kangana Ranaut to appear through video conference in a 2021 defamation case.
Upon hearing the matter, judicial magistrate first class Lakhbir Singh directed Kangana to appear before the court in person on the next date, October 27.
The defamation complaint against the MP was filed by 73-year-old Mahinder Kaur of Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Bathinda, alleging that Kangana defamed her in a post on social media platform X by wrongly identifying her as a Shaheen Bagh protester Bilkis Bano and suggesting that such women could be hired to protest for ₹100.
Complainant’s counsel RS Behniwal on Monday said Kangana moved an application for permanent exemption from physical appearance. But the district court dismissed it and issued fresh summons through the Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) for the next date, he added.
In February 2022, a Bathinda judicial magistrate had issued summons, directing Kangana to appear before the court.
Aggrieved by the order, she had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court in July 2022, seeking quashing of the defamation complaint and the lower court’s summoning order.
Justice Tribhuvan Singh Dahiya of the HC found no merit in the petition and dismissed it, prompting Kangana to approach the Supreme Court.
On September 12 this year, the apex court declined to entertain her plea. Later, Kangana’s counsel chose to withdraw the special leave petition (SLP) in the matter.
