On Monday, the city police notified the Bombay High Court that they will not arrest star Kangana Ranaut until January 25, 2022, over a social media post on farmers in which she reportedly connected farmer protests to a separatist organisation.
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The cops issued the statement after a panel of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal ruled the case was about Ranaut's basic right to free speech and that the court would have to grant her ad-interim relief.
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Ranaut filed a petition with the Supreme Court earlier this month, requesting that the FIR filed against her in November at Mumbai's Khar police station in response to a complaint by a Sikh organisation be dismissed.
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Ranaut claimed in her plea, submitted through lawyer Rizwan Sidiquee, that while the complainants took issue with her Instagram post from November 21, there was no legal case against her.
The actor was charged after certain members of a Sikh organisation complained that Ranaut had depicted the farmers' protest on Delhi's borders as a Khalistani movement through an Instagram post.
Ranaut was subsequently arrested on grounds of intentionally injuring the religious sensibilities of the community under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code.
Ranaut's lawyer said the HC on Monday that in order to be charged under section 295-A, an accused must have uttered an insulting remark with the intentional and malicious goal of injuring a specific individual or a community's religious emotions.
The actor, on the other hand, had no such aim in this case, according to her lawyer. The judge looked into Ranaut's social media post in question and agreed with her lawyer's argument.
"Where is the malice and purposeful intent here? According to Section 295, it shall be the single and dominating object "To the prosecution, the HC remarked.
The judge then questioned the cops if they planned to detain Ranaut in connection with the matter. The Khar police had given a notice to Ranaut, requesting her to come before them for interrogation, but the actor had not reacted to it yet, said to Chief Public Prosecutor Aruna Pai, who appeared for the police.
"On December 1, we served her (Ranaut) with a notice under Section 41A of the CrPC, but she has yet to answer. She is refusing to cooperate "The HC was informed by She is refusing to cooperate "The HC was informed by
In circumstances when immediate arrest is not essential but the accused's presence is required, a notice under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is issued to the accused.
Ranaut's lawyer informed the HC that she was willing to go to court in front of the police, but that she expected to be arrested in the case. The HC then informed Pai that the Khar police would have to make a definitive declaration about whether or not they planned to arrest Ranaut.
"There's also the bigger issue of free speech protection to consider. We'll have to offer some relief unless the police make a statement that she (Ranaut) will not be arrested "According to the court.
The actor will appear before the Khar police on December 22, according to Ranaut's lawyer. Pai then stated on behalf of the case's investigating officer that "police will not arrest her (Ranaut) until the next hearing date in the HC."
The court accepted the police statement and scheduled a new hearing for January 25, 2022. The complainants were also given time by the HC.