'You added spice': SC on Kangana as she withdraws plea against defamation suit

Noting that it was not a simple retweet by her, the Supreme Court on Friday told actor-turned BJP MP Kangana Ranaut that "You added spice” to what was existing as she withdrew her petition seeking quashing a defamation complaint over her tweet during the 2020-21 farmers’ protest.

A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta said the interpretation of the tweet or retweet in question couldn’t be considered in a quashing petition at least. “She retweeted the same. The original tweet itself had a lot of retweets by other people,” her counsel said.

Ranaut moved the court challenging an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which refused to quash the complaint against her. “What do you say about your comments on page 35? It is not a simple retweet as you say. You had added something, you added spice to what was existing,” Justice Mehta said. “What does that (retweet) impute? It is a subject matter of trial.”

As the counsel said they had filed a quashing petition and Ranaut had furnished a clarification too, Justice Mehta said the clarification could be given in the trial court and not in the quashing proceedings.

“Today is a situation for me that in Punjab, I can’t travel,” the counsel said. The Bench said she may seek exemption from appearance.

The counsel said the trial court, while issuing summons to Ranaut in the matter, did not consider her clarification.

“The complainant may have chosen not to file it. It may be a valid defence for you,” the bench said.

“Don’t ask us to comment on what has been written on page 35. It may prejudice your trial. Don’t ask us to comment. You may have a valid defence, we are not on that. But then there are other ways to do that.” Justice Nath asked the counsel if she wanted to withdraw her plea. “I will withdraw,” the lawyer said and the Bench allowed it.

The actor-turned-politician challenged the defamation complaint which stemmed from her retweet comprising her own comment about a woman protester during the 2020-21 farmer protests against the now repealed farm laws.

Complainant Mahinder Kaur (73), who hails from Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Punjab’s Bathinda district in 2021, had filed the complaint in Bathinda in January 2021.

Her complaint in a Bathinda court claimed the actor made “false imputations and remarks” against her in a retweet by saying she was the same “dadi” who was part of the Shaheen Bagh protest.

“There are specific allegations against the petitioner who is a celebrity, that false and defamatory imputations by her in the retweet have dented the respondent’s reputation and lowered her in her own estimation, as also in the eyes of others. Therefore, filing of the complaint to vindicate her rights cannot be termed mala fide,” the high court said in its August 1 order, dismissing Ranaut’s plea.