A metropolitan magistrate's court in Mumbai rejected actress-filmmaker Kangana Ranaut's appeal to be permanently exempted from appearing for hearings in a defamation suit filed by writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar.
In the order passed on Tuesday but made available on Thursday, magistrate RR Khan of the Andheri metropolitan court observed that Ranaut was yet to put in an appearance in court with the intent to cooperate in the trial.
The magistrate further said that while Ranaut might be a busy celebrity, she was still an accused in the case.
According to the legal news website LiveLaw.in, Ranaut had requested for a permanent exemption, saying that the offence against her was bailable and she would appear through her advocate at the trial. The application also said that she would present herself in court "when essentially required".
Javed Akhtar, represented by advocate Jay Bhardwaj, opposed Ranaut's application, calling it an attempt to prolong the matter and pointing out that she had not attended the hearings even when she was in Mumbai.
Akhtar had filed the defamation suit against Ranaut in 2020, after she mentioned him in a television interview while discussing actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.