Actor Payal Rohatgi on Monday appeared before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Rajasthan's Bundi district in connection with a four-year-old case relating to "objectionable" remarks she made about the Nehru-Gandhi family. The actress had been avoiding making appearances since she was granted bail after spending a day in jail in the matter in December 2019. The former "Big Boss" contestant had posted allegedly objectionable content on her social media accounts, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, in September 2019 against Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and other members of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Rohatgi, accompanied by her husband Sangram Singh, reached Bundi on Monday morning and presented herself before the court without a counsellor, claiming she didn't have any lawyer in Bundi.
The actress had skipped appearing in court on July 11, 2022, citing her wedding. She was also absent from the hearing on March 22 this year. Hearing her application for exemption from appearing for the hearing, the court had directed the actor to appear before it at the next hearing on April 24 (Monday).
Payal claimed that she had obtained a no-objection certificate from her previous lawyer in the case, leading to her missing the previous dates of the hearing. She also claimed that Rajasthan High Court was hearing the same case on Monday.
Bundi-based Congress leader Charmesh Sharma had filed a case against Rohatgi in Bundi (Sadar) police station in October 2019 following the release of the "defamatory" videos.
She was detained from Gujarat's Ahmedabad before being placed under arrest. She was produced in a Bundi court on December 16 and was sent to jail under judicial custody. On the same day, Rohatgi filed an application in the district judge's court, which granted her bail on December 17. The actress spent a night in Bundi Central Jail.
