Javed Akhtar moves Sessions Court against Magistrate summons in Kangana Ranaut complaint

Lyricist Javed Akhtar has approached a sessions court in Mumbai against a Magistrate court order summoning him in relation to a complaint filed by Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut accusing him of criminal intimidation and insulting modesty of woman..The Magistrate jumped to conclusions in a hasty manner which resulted in a grave miscarriage of justice, the plea filed by Akhtar through advocate Jay Bharadwaj said.As per Ranaut's complaint, Akhtar had invited her to his place in 2020 in order to resolve an ongoing dispute with actor Hrithik Roshan.During the meeting, Ranaut alleged that when she refused to apologise to Roshan, Akhtar threatened and insulted her, thus committing the offence of extortion.She filed a complaint against Akhtar alleging criminal conspiracy, extortion and insulting her modesty by invading her privacy.After recording Ranaut's statement on July 6, the court took cognizance of the complaint on July 24.In the order, the magistrate observed that though the allegations of extortion had been raised, no case was made out against Akhtar for extortion.However, Metropolitan Magistrate RM Shaikh at Andheri issued process against Akhtar for offences under Sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (insulting modesty of woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and asked him to appear before the court on August 5..Akhtar has challenged this order before a Sessions court at Dindoshi, Mumbai. Akhtar claimed that there was nothing in the judicial records to substantiate issuance of summons to him.Akhtar also pointed out that Ranaut’s complaint was hopelessly time-barred since the maximum time for filing a complaint for offences under Sections 506 and 509 IPC is 3 years from the date of the alleged incident while Ranaut admittedly filed the complaint after 5 years.The plea will be heard by the sessions judge on August 8. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.