Actress Munmun Dutta joins probe in SC/ST Act case, gets interim bail

Hisar, February 7

The “Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah” fame actress Munmun Dutta appeared before investigating officer DSP Vinod Shankar before the Hansi police today in connection with a case registered against her under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes Atrocities (SC/ST) Act.

Dutta was formally arrested and taken to the office of the DSP for interrogation. She was questioned for about four hours. The actress was later released on interim bail.

The police had deployed adequate force at the SP office as a precautionary measure to avoid rush of people. Dutta, along with her lawyer, reached the DSP office accompanied by two security personnel and bouncers. She did not talk to any mediapersons during her arrival in Hansi.

The police had booked her on the complaint of a Hansi-based activist Rajat Kalsan on May 13, 2021. She later filed a petition in the Supreme Court to quash the case filed against her which was rejected by the Supreme Court on September 22, 2021.

Dutta later approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court for anticipatory bail after her petition for anticipatory bail was rejected by the Special Court in Hisar on January 28. The Punjab Haryana High Court February 4, has asked her to appear before the investigating officer in Hansi to join the investigation and directed the IO to release her on interim bail after interrogation. The court had also directed the IO to submit the investigation report before the High Court on February 25.

The complainant, Rajat Kalsan, said she had released a video on May 9 last year, in which she made indecent and derogatory remarks against the Scheduled Caste community. Kalsan lodged a complaint with the police against Munmun Dutta on May 13, 2021, seeking the registration of a case under the SC/ST Act. — TNS

‘Derogatory remarks’

As per the complainant, the actress had released a video on May 9 last year, in which she had made “derogatory” remarks against the SC community.