January 12, 2026 11:23 am (IST)
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Kangana Ranaut
Mumbai court exempts Kangana Ranaut from appearance, cautions against future absence
Mumbai/IBNS: A Mumbai court allowed actor Kangana Ranaut's plea seeking exemption from personal appearance for the day in a criminal defamation complaint filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar, according to media reports.
The court, however, warned that it will issue a warrant against her if she fails to appear on the next date of hearing on September 20, according to an NDTV report.
The actor's lawyer submitted a medical certificate as the matter came up for hearing in the court on Tuesday.
He told the court the actor had been travelling for the promotion of her film and has developed Covid-19 symptoms.
However, Javed Akhtar's lawyer said it is an orchestrated tactic to delay the case proceedings, the report said.
He further pointed out to the court that Kangana Ranaut has excused herself from making an appearance in the court for one reason or the other since summons were issued to her in February, 2021.
After hearing the lawyers of both the parties, metropolitan magistrate RR Khan allowed Ranaut to be exempted from appearance for the day and posted the matter for hearing on September 20.
Last Thursday, Bombay High Court quashed a plea by Ranaut seeking the quashing of the proceedings initiated by a local court in a defamation suit filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar.
Justice Revati Mohite-Dere had noted that there was no illegality or irregularity in the Andheri metropolitan magistrate's order.
Javed Akhtar, 76, has accused Kangana Ranaut of dragging his name during a television interview in which she claimed that a 'coterie' existed in Bollywood,
The interview was aired by a private television channel following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June last year.
In the defamation complaint filed in the magistrate's court in November last year, Akhtar said that Knagana Ranaut's defamatory statements damaged his reputation.
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