Bathinda (Punjab): Actor and Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut faces renewed legal hurdles as a Bathinda court has reissued summons against her in a defamation case linked to the farmers’ protest. The court has directed her to appear at the earliest, with the next hearing scheduled for September 29.
The case stems from Kangana’s 2020–21 social media post on X, where she mistakenly identified 73-year-old farmer Mahinder Kaur of Bahadurgarh Jandian village, Bathinda, as Shaheen Bagh protester Bilkis Bano. In the same post, Kangana claimed that “such women are available for protests for Rs. 100,” remarks which prompted Mahinder Kaur to file a defamation case in January 2021, alleging reputational harm.
Kangana skipped her scheduled court appearance on September 15, leading to the issuance of fresh summons. She had previously sought relief from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and later the Supreme Court to quash the case, but both petitions were rejected.
With the fresh summons, Kangana must now stand trial in the Bathinda lower court.
