On Tuesday (January 4), the court rejected lyricist Javed Akhtar's demand for the issuance of a non-bailable warrant against Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut. His lawyer Jay Bharadwaj informed ANI that the next court hearing is scheduled for February 1. On December 13, Javed Akhtar had moved an application before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court (CMM) at Andheri for issuing a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Kangana Ranaut, as the actor failed to appear before the court.
The application, moved by Akhtar's lawyer, listed the number of exemptions Ranaut has sought for one reason or another since March this year. She had last appeared before Andheri metropolitan magistrate RR Khan on September 20.
"It can be clearly deciphered from the conduct of the accused that from the time of issuance of process by this court (Andheri metropolitan magistrate court) she has been deploying all possible tactics to cause inordinate delays in the matter," the application said.
It also mentioned the actor was making "false and incorrect statements" before the court.
Akhtar has filed the defamation case against Ranaut in November 2020, alleging that she made defamatory and baseless comments about him in a television interview. He claimed the actor had dragged in his name while referring to a "coterie" existing in Bollywood, following the alleged suicide by actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June last year.
Also read: Javed Akhtar seeks dismissal of defamation suit against him over RSS-Taliban remarks
Earlier, a chief metropolitan magistrate had rejected Ranaut's petition seeking transfer of the criminal defamation case. She had moved the plea saying she had "lost faith" in the magistrate's court hearing the case, as it had indirectly "threatened" to issue a warrant if she failed to appear before it in a bailable offence.
