A court in Mumbai on Monday issued a summons
to actor Kangana Ranaut after the city police informed it of a defamation
offence against the actor alleged by lyricist Javed Akhtar, further highlighting
the need for the same to be investigated, reported PTI.

In December 2020, the Andheri Metropolitan
magistrate instructed the Juhu Police to file an inquiry into the defamation
complaint issued by Javed Akhtar against the actor earlier in November of the
same year.

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The police submitted their report on
the subject on Monday, informing the court that the offenses listed out make a
case for further probe.

R R Khan, the overseeing Magistrate, after
analysing the report, issued the summons which has been scheduled for hearing
on March 1.

Jay Kumar Bharadwaj, advocate to
Javed Akhtar, on Monday said to the court that Ranaut had been issued summons
by the police, asking her to remain present before the latter to have her
statement recorded, although she was yet to respond to the same.

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Akhtar’s complaint alleged that the
actor had made derogatory comments against him in the course of an interview
while referring to a ‘coterie’ in Bollywood, following the death of Bollywood
actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June, 2020.

Akhtar had pointed out that ‘baseless’
comments by Ranaut had hurt his reputation.