Advocate files petition seeking suspension of Kangana Ranaut’s Twitter account

The petition has included Twitter Inc. as a party and sought directions to the social messaging service provider to suspend Ranaut’s account and implement its community guidelines diligently and bar people inciting hatred among masses.

An advocate has filed a petition in the Bombay high court (HC) against actor Kangana Ranaut and sought suspension of her Twitter account, like that of her sister Rangoli Chandel, on the grounds that Ranaut used the account to spread hatred and disharmony in the country through derogatory tweets. The petition has included Twitter Inc. as a party and sought directions to the social messaging service provider to suspend Ranaut’s account and implement its community guidelines diligently and bar people inciting hatred among masses.

Actor Kangana Ranaut. (HT PHOTO)

The petition filed by advocate Kashif Ali Khan Deshmukh, while referring to the malicious tweets by Chandel in April, stated that after the account was suspended, Ranaut came out in support of her sister through a video wherein she reiterated what Chandel had tweeted. Chandel had suggested genocide of persons belonging to a minority community through her tweet.

The petition states that a complaint was lodged with Amboli police about the video, but no action was initiated against the actor. The petition further adds that in later months, the actor maligned public servants and also tried to disrupt the harmony between the Hindu and Muslim communities through controversial tweets pertaining to Bollywood. The petition also refers to a tweet wherein the actor maligned a lower court.

Apart from approaching the police to lodge complaints against the animosity filled tweets, the petitioner stated that he wrote to the grievance officer of Twitter Inc. which has its office in Bandra-Kurla Complex to suspend the Twitter account. However, as no action was initiated, he approached the HC and make Twitter Inc. a party by invoking article 226 and section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

According to Deshmukh, the petition has prayed for suspension of Ranaut’s Twitter account and sought directions to Twitter to implement its community guidelines for users stringently. The petition is expected to come up for hearing in due course.