In a major relief for actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel, the Bombay High Court granted them interim protection from arrest and directed the Mumbai Police to not take any coercive action against the duo in connection with an FIR filed against them for their alleged communal tweets.
#NewsAlert – Relief for Actress Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli.
— CNN News18 (@CNNnews18) November 24, 2020
Bombay High Court grants protection from arrest.
Next Day of hearing on January 11.@Herman_Gomes shares details with @AnushaSoni23. pic.twitter.com/XXj8N0tAQE
The court, however, has asked Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel to appear before Mumbai Police on January 8 for recording their statement.
A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and M S Karnik was hearing a petition filed by Ranaut and her sister. The court observed that three summons were issued by the police and the same need to be honoured.
Representing Chandel and Ranaut, advocate Rizwan Siddiquee then assured the court that his clients will appear before the Bandra police in Mumbai on January 8 from 12 pm to 2pm for recording of their statements.
Justice Shinde also questioned as to why “sedition” charges were invoked in the case.
“Why is the sedition section invoked? Why are we treating citizens of our country like this?” Justice Shinde said. The High Court said this would be discussed in detail during the next hearing.
Kangana Ranaut and sister Rangoli move Bombay HC seeking to quash the FIR filed against them
Earlier yesterday, actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister had moved the Bombay High Court seeking to quash the FIR lodged against them by the Mumbai Police for allegedly “trying to create hatred and communal tension” through their posts on social media.
The FIR was filed against the duo pursuant to the orders passed by the Bandra magistrates court asking the police to carry out a probe against Ranaut and her sister following a complaint registered against them.
Ranaut had filed the plea seeking to stay the summons issued against them to appear before the police for questioning, and also a direction to the police to not take any coercive action against the two sisters.
Last week, the Mumbai Police had issued summons to Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli to record their statements on November 23 and 24 for allegedly promoting enmity between two communities.
Kangana and Rangoli accused of sowing discord between communities in an FIR filed by Mumbai Police
The police had filed an FIR against Kangana and Rangoli under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc), 295A (deliberate acts hurting religious sentiments) and 34 (common intention). Along with these, TIPC section 124A- sedition was also slapped on the duo.
According to complainant Sayyed’s lawyer, the complaint alleged that Ranaut has been defaming Bollywood for the last two months by calling it a “hub of nepotism”, “favouritism” etc through her tweets and television interviews.
