Actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut on Friday withdrew her petition from the Supreme Court that challenged the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s refusal to quash a defamation complaint lodged against her in connection with her remarks during the 2020–21 farmers’ protest.
The matter was listed before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. At the outset of the hearing, the bench indicated its disinclination to entertain the petition, following which Ranaut’s counsel sought permission to withdraw it.
The complaint was filed by Mahinder Kaur (73), a resident of Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Punjab’s Bathinda district, in January 2021. She alleged that Ranaut had made defamatory remarks against her through a retweet which contained the actor’s comment about a woman protestor.
Kaur claimed Ranaut falsely identified her as the same “dadi” who had participated in the Shaheen Bagh protest, thereby subjecting her to ridicule and tarnishing her reputation.
Ranaut had earlier approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, contending that the Bathinda court’s summoning order was unsustainable and violated provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, the high court declined to quash the proceedings, prompting her to move the Supreme Court.
