CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a petition filed by actor-turned-politician and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut seeking to quash the summoning order on a defamation complaint filed against her by an elderly woman of Bathinda.Ranaut had sought quashing of the criminal complaint filed under Sections 499 and 500 of IPC, as well as the summoning order and all subsequent proceedings in the matter.After considering the matter, the High Court found no merit in the petition and dismissed it. The Bench of Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya did not accept the argument for quashing the complaint and the summoning order. “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 has observed in its detailed order.The court further observed that the magistrate has duly applied mind to the material on record, and only after recording satisfaction that commission of offence under Sections 499 IPC is prima facie made out against the petitioner, the process has been issued. With this, she has to face the trial before the local court in Punjab.
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