Actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel on Monday moved the Bombay High Court challenging Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate’s order to Mumbai Police to take cognisance of the sisters’ alleged hate posts on Twitter handle and statements given in interviews.The sisters also sought quashing of the FIR against them for allegedly “trying to create hatred and communal tension” through their social media posts.Last month, the Metropolitan Magistrate’s court at Bandra had ordered the police to investigate a complaint filed by Munawwar Ali Sayyed, a Bollywood casting director and fitness trainer, which referred to Ranaut’s and Chandel’s tweets and other statements.
On the direction of the court, the Bandra police station registered an FIR against Ranaut and her sister under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc), 295A (deliberate acts hurting religious sentiments) and 124-A (sedition).As per Magistrate’s October 16 order, the complainant had submitted that Kangana has been defaming the Bollywood film industry by claiming it be a hub of nepotism through her tweets and TV interviews.As per the Magistrate’s order, complainant Sayyed had alleged that Kangana was “creating division between artists from Hindu and Muslim communities” and she had tweeted objectionable comments which not only hurt his religious sentiments but also the feeling of many of his film colleagues.He had alleged that Chandel had also made an objectionable tweet to spread communal hatred between Hindu and Muslim community.
The complainant had said that since Bandra Police station had not taken cognizance of his complaint, the Magistrate should direct it to register an FIR against the sisters.After perusing the complaint and documents produced, Metropolitan Magistrate Jaydeo Y Ghule, while directing registration of FIR had noted in the order, said: “ On prima facie perusal of complaint and submissions, I found the cognizable offence has been committed by the accused. Total allegations are based upon comment on social and electronic media, such as Twitter and interviews. The thorough investigation is necessary by experts. All allegations alleged and levelled against the accused are cognizable. Search and seizure are necessary in the case.”Aggrieved by the Magistrate’s order, the duo on Monday filed a petition before HC through advocate Rizwan Siddiquee and also sought quashing of the FIR.The plea also sought the court to stay the summons, asking them to appear before the police for questioning, and also sought a direction to the police to not take any coercive steps against them.The Police last week had summoned the sisters for the third time to record their statements on November 23 and 24. The HC will hear the plea in due course.