Punjab Court Orders Kangana Ranaut's Personal Appearance in Defamation Case Over Farmer Protest Tweet

A court in Bathinda has ordered actor and MP Kangana Ranaut to appear personally on October 27 for a defamation case hearing, denying her request to participate via video-conferencing.

The legal matter originates from Ms. Ranaut's retweet with her own commentary regarding complainant Mahinder Kaur from Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Punjab's Bathinda district during the farmer protests of 2020-21 against farm laws that have since been repealed.

Ms. Ranaut's legal team had filed an application requesting exemption from physical appearance in court. After considering arguments from both parties, the court rejected this request.

Advocate Raghubir Singh Beniwal, who represents 73-year-old complainant Mahinder Kaur, stated, "We opposed Kangana Ranaut's application because the law does not provide for an accused to be exempted from appearance at the initial stage of the case. We requested the court to ensure her presence, and in case of absence, to issue arrest warrants."

The complainant alleged that the BJP MP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh defamed her in a post on Twitter (now X) by incorrectly identifying her as Bilkis Bano from the Shaheen Bagh protests.

In her complaint filed in Bathinda court, Ms. Kaur claimed the actor made "false imputations and remarks" against her in the retweet by comparing her with another woman, claiming she was the same "dadi" who participated in the Shaheen Bagh protest.

An earlier application in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to dismiss the case had been rejected. Subsequently, Ms. Ranaut approached the Supreme Court to challenge this decision.

However, on September 12, the Supreme Court informed Kangana Ranaut that her action was not merely a simple retweet, stating that the actor-politician had "added spice" to existing content. Following this, Kangana Ranaut withdrew her plea.