Mumbai court orders FIR against Kangana Ranaut, sister Rangoli
A Bandra metropolitan court has ordered the registration of a police complaint or FIR against actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel based on a complaint filed before it. The complainant has alleged that they have been trying to create a divide between communities and spreading communal hatred. Here are more details on this.
The order was passed by the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate Jaydeo Y Ghule on the basis of a complaint by petitioner Sahil Ashrafali Sayyed, according to reports. "The allegations are based upon the comments made on electronic media- Twitter and interviews- and a thorough investigation by an expert is necessary," the court noted, while directing the concerned police station to commence investigation into the matter.
In his complaint, Sayyed alleged Kangana is "creating divisions between Hindu artists and Muslim artists." He stressed the 33-year-old actor is "maliciously bringing religion in almost all her tweets," citing examples where she talked about the lynching of Hindu sadhus in Palghar, and called the Mumbai civic body as "Babur's army." He also cited Kangana's controversial tweet, where she compared Mumbai with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The petitioner, who identified himself as a casting director and fitness trainer, claims to have worked with a number of popular filmmakers like Ram Gopal Verma and Sanjay Gupta. He also alleged that Kangana has been defaming the Hindi movie industry. He stated that she is "portraying people working in Bollywood films as a hub of nepotism, favoritism, drug-addicts, communally-biased people, murderers (sic)."
Through his petition, Sayyed sought registration of FIR against Kangana and her sister under the IPC Sections 153A (promoting enmity), 295A (malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings), and 124A (sedition). "Her (Kangana's) sister, too, has made objectionable comments on social media to spread communal tension between two religious groups," the complaint further read. Kangana had officially joined Twitter in August this year.
"Police Investigation is necessary as to ascertain the real motive behind such hate tweets and who are the people backing such hatred to create communal tensions and sentiments against the government," the complaint added.
Earlier, Kangana's tweet equating Mumbai with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir region had earned her criticism from her colleagues and many political leaders, especially from the Shiv Sena. Notably, the court order against the actor has come at a time when she is involved in a legal battle with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which demolished part of her Mumbai office alleging that it was illegally constructed.
