Kangana Ranaut filed a petition in the Supreme Court against her tweets during the farmers' protest. The court refused to hear it and asked her to withdraw the petition. The matter will now proceed in the lower court.
Kangana Ranaut News: Bollywood actress and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has faced a significant setback from the Supreme Court. She had filed a petition to quash a defamation case registered in Punjab due to her controversial posts and tweets on social media during the farmers' protest. The Supreme Court refused to hear this petition and advised Kangana to withdraw it. Following this, Kangana withdrew the petition, accepting the court's advice.
What is the matter?
During the 2020-21 farmers' protest, Kangana made several posts on social media, including controversial remarks about an elderly female protester, Mahinder Kaur. Her tweets and retweets claimed that female protesters were paid to participate and that this woman was associated with Bilkis Dadi of Shaheen Bagh. Mahinder Kaur filed a defamation case in Bathinda, Punjab, in 2021 over this remark.
Kangana had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking relief in this matter. Her argument was that the tweet was made in good faith and she harbored no malicious intent.
What did the Supreme Court say?
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta refused to consider Kangana's petition. The court clarified that it was not a simple retweet. Kangana had added her own commentary to the retweet, which made the matter more serious. The bench stated, "You have added spice to it." The court also informed Kangana that her defense could be made in the lower court and the Supreme Court would not make any observations in this case as it could affect the trial.
The Supreme Court advised her to withdraw the petition, which Kangana accepted. The court warned that if the hearing continued, adverse comments could be made against her.
Legal Process
After an inquiry, the Magistrate's Court found that Kangana's retweet and commentary constituted an offense under Section 499 (Defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. Subsequently, Kangana filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which was dismissed. The court also stated that the magistrate's failure to consider exceptions did not render the order illegal.
Kangana argued that her intention was in good faith and she lacked guilty mind (mens rea), thereby bringing her posts under the exceptions of Section 499. The High Court did not accept this.
Twitter's Role
The Supreme Court had sought a report from Twitter Communications India Private Limited (TCIPL) to confirm Kangana's retweets. The report was not received, but the court noted that TCIPL is neither the owner nor controller of www.twitter.com and is only involved in marketing and research. Therefore, the failure to receive the report did not invalidate the magistrate's order.
