Supreme Court rejects Kangana Ranaut's plea

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition by actor-politician Kangana Ranaut to dismiss a defamation case filed against her in connection with a controversial tweet she posted against a woman participant in the 2021 farmers' protest. While hearing the matter, the top court told Ranaut, "You added spice. It was not a simple retweet."

The case against the BJP MP from Mandi was filed by 73-year-old Mahinder Kaur from Punjab's Bathinda district, alleging that Ranaut defamed her in a tweet by wrongly identifying her as the "Shaheen Bagh dadi Bilkis", who participated in the 2019 protests in Delhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act. In her tweet, Ranaut also allegedly suggested that such women could be hired to protest for Rs 100.

During the hearing, Ranaut’s counsel argued that she had already issued a clarification for her remarks and cited security concerns about appearing in Punjab. Justice Mehta, however, noted that clarifications must be placed before the trial court, adding, “Don’t ask us to comment on what is written in the tweet. It may prejudice your trial. You may have a valid defence."

The lawyer then decided to withdraw the petition, following which it was dismissed by the court.

Last month, the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed Ranaut's petitions against a summons issued to her by a Bathinda magistrate in February 2022 in connection with the case.

In 2020, Time magazine featured 82-year-old Bilkis in its list of ‘100 Most Influential People' of the year. Bilkis, one of the ‘dadis’ or grandmothers of Shaheen Bagh, became the face of the massive anti-CAA protests. She refused to leave the protest site despite the bitter cold and threats from CAA supporters.