Punjab & Haryana HC Dismisses Kangana Ranaut's Plea To Quash Defamation Case

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut for quashing a defamation case against her by a Bathinda-based elderly protester.

Ranaut, who is BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi seat, had sought quashing of the criminal case filed against her under Sections 499 and 500 IPC as well as the summoning order issued by Bathinda district court on February 22, 2022, and all the subsequent proceedings in the matter.

It may be recalled that the case arose from Ranaut’s tweet – and also her retweet with comments – during the farmers protests against the now repealed farm laws in which she commented: ``Ha Ha Ha she is the same dadi who featured in Time magazine for being the most powerful Indian … And she is available in 100 rupees. Pakistani jurno’s have hijacked international PR for India in an embarrassing way. We need our own people to speak for us internationally’’. This was in reference to a tweet, which carried the photograph of the complainant, Mahinder Kaur, 73, a resident of village Bahadurgarh Jandian, district Bathinda.

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The complainant in her complaint, held that Ranaut had defamed her in a tweet by identifying her wrongly as another elderly woman associated with Shaheen Bagh protests and implying that such women could be hired to protest for Rs 100. She further held that this not only hurt her pride and honour but also lowered her reputation among the fellow protestors.

The Bench of Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya did not accept her argument for quashing the complaint and the summoning order; It observed that there are specific allegations against the petitioner who is a celebrity, that false and defamatory imputations by her in the retweet have dented the respondent’s reputation and lowered her in her own estimation, as also in the eyes of others. Therefore, filing of the complaint to vindicate her rights cannot be termed mala fide, it added.