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The Bathinda court had summoned Ranaut following which she moved the high court which, however, refused to grant her any relief. (File Photo/Amit Mehra)
BJP MP Kangana Ranaut Friday chose to withdraw from the Supreme Court a plea challenging a defamation case over what she contended was a retweet with respect to the 2021 farmers’ protest after a two-judge bench refused to entertain it, observing that she had “added spice” to the original tweet.
Justice Sandeep Mehta, who was part of the two-judge bench hearing the matter, asked Ranaut, “What about your comments? It was not a simple re-tweet. You have added your own comments. You have added spice.”
The defamation case was filed by Mahinder Kaur, 73, before a magistrate court in Bathinda. In a complaint filed in January 2021, Kaur had alleged that during the farmer protests, Ranaut had posted a defamatory tweet wherein “false imputations and remarks” were made against her.
Ranaut’s tweet had allegedly compared Kaur with ‘Shaheen Bagh Dadi’, a woman protester at Shaheen Bagh, and hinted that such agitators could be hired. Kaur filed a complaint before the Bathinda court, seeking initiation of criminal proceedings under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code for defamation. The Bathinda court had summoned Ranaut following which she moved the high court which, however, refused to grant her any relief.
On Friday, the counsel appearing for the parliamentarian told the bench, presided by Justice Vikram Nath, “She retweeted the same. The original tweet itself had a lot of retweets by other people.” He added that Ranaut had clarified her tweet, to which the court said she can give the clarification to the trial court.
The counsel said that the trial court, which summoned her, had not considered her clarification. The bench said that could be because the complainant may not have produced the clarification before the trial court. The bench added, “It may be a valid defence for you.”
The counsel said that the “situation, for me, is that in Punjab, I can’t travel.” The court said she can request the trial court to exempt her from personal appearance.
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The court cautioned the counsel that it may prejudice her case if it makes some adverse remarks. “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 bench said.
It then asked the counsel if he wanted to withdraw the case, to which he said, “I will withdraw.” The court went on to allow the same.
The case now remains pending before the Bathinda court.
English (US) ·