NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea filed by actress-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's refusal to quash a summoning order issued against her by a Bathinda court in a defamation case.
The defamation complaint against the BJP MP was filed by 73-year-old Mahinder Kaur of Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Bathinda district, alleging that Kangana Ranaut defamed her in a post on social media platform X by wrongly identifying her as a Shaheen Bagh protester, Bilkis Bano and suggesting that such women could be hired to protest for Rs 100.
"It was not a simple retweet. The interpretation of this tweet cannot be considered in a quashing petition. Your clarification is for the trial court, not in a quashing petition, " remarked a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.
"Don't ask us to comment on your tweet. It may prejudice your trial. You want to withdraw?" the Justice Nath-led Bench.
Sensing the disinclination of the Apex Court to entertain the plea, Kangana's counsel then chose to withdraw the special leave petition (SLP).
In February 2022, a Bathinda judicial magistrate issued a summons directing Kangana Ranaut to appear before the court.
Aggrieved by the summoning order, she had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, contending that the trial court had misapplied Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
After hearing the matter at length, Justice Tribhuvan Singh Dahiya of the Punjab and Haryana High Court found no merit in the petition and dismissed it, prompting Kanagana to approach the Supreme Court.