Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel have moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of cases pending against them in Mumbai to a court in Shimla, alleging there would be threat to their lives if the trial proceeds there because of “personal vendetta” of Shiv Sena leaders against them.
The actress and her sister said they apprehend that if trial in these cases are conducted in Mumbai, there would be a “material threat” to their life and property as the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra Government has been “harassing” them.
“The petitioners face a threat unto life if the trials proceed in Mumbai, because of personal vendetta of Shiv Sena leaders against the petitioner herein,” said the plea, filed recently through advocate Neeraj Shekhar.
The plea has sought transfer of trial of FIRs and complaints registered against them, including a complaint case filed by veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar against Ranaut alleging defamation, from Mumbai to a competent court in Shimla in Himachal Pradesh.
It said that Akhtar had filed a complaint case against Ranaut alleging criminal defamation after the actress had given an interview to a news channel last year in which she had talked about a meeting with the lyricist in 2016.
It has further sought transfer of an FIR lodged in Mumbai by one Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh which relates to Chandel’s tweet in which
she had expressed her anguish over attack on doctors during COVID-19 pandemic.
It said subsequently, Twitter account of Chandel was suspended after which Ranaut had spoken on a social media video against it.
The plea said Khan had lodged an FIR against Ranaut and Chandel for the alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal
Code (IPC), including 295A which deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class.
It said that the same complainant had also filed a complaint casebefore the Metropolitan Magistrate, Andheri, against the petitioners.
“Multiple proceedings on the same cause of action clearly demonstrates how the said complainant is just trying to harass the petitioners herein,” the plea has alleged.
The plea has also sought transfer of an FIR lodged by one Munawar
Ali for the alleged offences of sedition against them.