Kangana Ranaut fails to appear for hearing, court warns her of arrest warrant

The Bombay High Court sternly warned Bollywood actor that an arrest warrant will be issued against her, in case of failure to appear before the court for the next hearing in the Javed Akhtar defamation case

Mumbai:The Bombay High Court sternly warned Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut that an arrest warrant will be issued against her, in case of failure to appear before the court for the next hearing. Entangled in a defamation suit filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar, the actor was to appear before the HC on Tuesday.

Kangana's lawyer Siddiqui informed the court that the actor is showing Covid-19 symptoms. Siddiqui said that Kangana failed to appear before the court as the report of the Covid test has not yet been received. However, Javed's lawyer Bhardwaj objected to Siddiqui's statement.

The next hearing is scheduled for September 20. Kangana's plea seeking quashing of the case was rejected by the HC on September 9. The HC had reserved its order on the plea on September 1.

Reports said Akhtar filed a defamation suit against Kangana's statements during a show in a media outlet. Claiming it be an offence of criminal defamation under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, Akhtar filed case against her.

As per the complaint, Kangana allegedly commented that Akhtar was part of a "Bollywood suicide gang" who could "get away with anything." She made the comments during a media outlet's interview after death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, as per reports.