Kangana Ranaut defamation case: Hearing deferred due to lawyers’ strike

Prosecution counsel RS Behniwal said on the next date, the court will record the statement of the complainant Mahinder Kaur and a prosecution witness Gurpreet Singh

A special court in Bathinda on Saturday deferred the hearing in the criminal defamation case against Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) parliamentarian from Mandi and film actor Kangana Ranaut to August 3, as proceedings could not be held due to a lawyers’ strike.

In 2021, septuagenarian Mahinder Kaur, a resident of Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Bathinda district, had filed a complaint alleging that Ranaut had defamed her in a post on social media platform X. (HT File)

Prosecution counsel RS Behniwal said on the next date, the court will record the statement of the complainant Mahinder Kaur and a prosecution witness Gurpreet Singh.

He added that on August 3, the special court would also hear arguments on the prosecution’s plea seeking Ranaut to surrender her passport.

Behniwal said owing to the ongoing strike by the lawyer fraternity against the Legal Aid Defence Counsel (LADC) policy, the court hearing could not be held on Saturday.

In 2021, septuagenarian Mahinder Kaur, a resident of Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Bathinda district, had filed a complaint alleging that Ranaut had defamed her in a post on social media platform X by wrongly identifying her as Bilkis Bano, a protester associated with the Shaheen Bagh agitation, and suggesting that such women could be hired to take part in the protests for ₹100.