Kangana tweets: Complainant asked on govt nod for sedition

Mumbai, January 22

A metropolitan court in Mumbai on Friday directed a complainant who had sought a sedition case against actor Kangana Ranaut to show whether he had taken sanction from the government for the same.

The court was hearing a criminal complaint filed by advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh in which he sought action against her for sedition for allegedly spreading hatred through her tweets.

As per CrPc Section 196, sanction from the government is necessary before taking cognizance of offence punishable under sedition charges.

“I will be applying to the Maharashtra government for sanction so that the accused can be prosecuted for sedition and spreading hatred,” Khan said.

The matter has been slated for hearing on March 10.

In the complaint filed in October last year, Khan had sought a case against Ranaut under Sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 124 A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code.

He alleged that Ranaut’s tweets referred to Mumbai as “Pakistan occupied Kashmir” and described a state minister as a member of the “Taliban”, and that these remarks had defamed the country.

In a similar matter, on the direction of a court, Bandra police, in October, registered an FIR against Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel for allegedly promoting enmity between communities through their remarks. — PTI

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