Bollywood actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has been granted bail by a court in Bathinda, Punjab after she regretted some “misunderstanding” that occurred following one of her social media posts.
The actor also said that every ‘mata’ (mother) is respectable to her.
The controversy stems from a post by a BJP MP from Mandi on social media in which she misidentified an elderly farmer as Bilkis Bano, a Shaheen Bagh activist.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Ranaut said it was a “generic meme”, the report revealed.
“I feel very good after coming to Bathinda today. As you can see, there is a huge crowd, my fans have gathered to meet me. Besides, I have sent a message to Mataji’s (farmer activist) husband because of the misunderstanding. I could not have imagined this dispute,” Ranaut also said, according to a report in India Today.
Kangana earlier approach HC, SC
The trial judge summoned the actor in February 2022 in connection with the case.
She then approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court to quash the complaint as well as summon the lower court.
When the High Court dismissed her plea, she approached the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court refused to accept her plea. After that, Ranaut withdraws the petition.
“There are specific allegations against the petitioner, who is a celebrity, that her false and defamatory insinuations in the retweet damaged the reputation of the respondent and lowered her in her own estimation and in the eyes of others. Therefore, the filing of the complaint to defend her rights cannot be termed as mala fide,” the high court said in its ruling on August 1.
The Supreme Court also told the actor in September this year that it was not a simple tweet and that she had “added spice to what was there”.
The actor had to appear in court in person after the court rejected her plea to appear through video conferencing.
“I could never in my dream imagine how this controversy arose. Every ‘mata’ whether from Punjab or Himachal is respectable to me,” she also said, according to PTI.
She insisted she didn’t add anything “original” from her end to the controversial X post.
Complainant Mahinder Kaur is a 73-year-old farmer from Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Bathinda.
She said Ranaut had made “false imputations and remarks” against her in a retweet by comparing her to a “dadi” who was part of the Shaheen Bagh protest.
She also said that she has been part of the demonstrations since the start of the farmers’ protest in 2021.
