New Delhi: It was not a simple retweet and you had “added spice” to what was existing, the Supreme Court Friday told actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, who withdrew her plea for quashing a defamation complaint over her tweet during the 2020-21 farmers’ protest.
Showing its disinclination to hear her plea, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said the interpretation of the tweet or retweet in question couldn’t be considered in a quashing petition at least.
Ranaut’s counsel told the bench that the actor had retweeted a tweet.
“She retweeted the same. The original tweet itself had a lot of retweets by other people,” the counsel said.
Justice Mehta observed, “What do you say about your comments at page 35? It is not a simple retweet, as you say. You had added something; you added spice to what was existing.”
When the lawyer referred to the retweet, the bench said, “What does that impute? It is a subject matter of trial.”
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 an exemption from appearance.
The counsel said the trial court, while issuing a 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.
The bench added, “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, but we are not on that. But then there are other ways to do that.”
Justice Nath asked the counsel whether the petitioner wanted to withdraw the plea.
“I will withdraw,” the lawyer said, following which the bench allowed it.
Ranaut moved the apex court challenging an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which refused to quash the complaint against her.
The actor-turned-politician challenged the defamation complaint, which stemmed from her retweet comprising her own comment about a woman protestor during the 2020-21 farmer protests against the now-repealed farm laws.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 2021, 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.
Kaur said she was also a part of dharnas (sit-ins) and demonstrations since the beginning of the farmers’ protest in 2020-21 against the now-repealed farm laws.
Despite her old age, she, along with other protesters, went to Delhi to participate in the agitation.
Kaur said she had absolutely no concern with the woman (dadi) from Shaheen Bagh who featured in ‘Time’ magazine, with whom she had been compared in the tweet.
It was alleged that Ranaut made “false imputation and defamatory remarks against the complainant, hurting her pride, honour, and defaming her on social media”.
Ranaut’s counsel argued in the high court that the summoning order of the Bathinda court was not sustainable, being violative of the Criminal Procedure Code.
After recording preliminary evidence by the complainant, the magistrate called for a report from the director, Twitter Communications India Private Limited (TCIPL), and he could not have summoned the petitioner, as the report was never received, it was argued.
It was also contended that Ranaut had no intention to harm the complainant’s reputation.
PTI
