Kangana Ranaut, the Hindi actor who is embroiled in several legal cases due to her social media posts and comments, moved the Bombay High Court on Thursday, seeking to quash a First Information Report (FIR) registered against her over ‘derogatory’ Instagram posts about the Sikh community and farmers protesting the now repealed Farm Bills, Live Law reported.
An FIR was registered against the actor on November 23 under section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting a religion) of the Indian Penal Code based on a complaint filed by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) at Mumbai’s Khar Police Station.
Recently, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of the decision to repeal the three Farm Bills on November 19 following the year-long farmers’ protest, Ranaut took to her Instagram and wrote, referring to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, “Khalistani terrorists may be arm twisting the government today. But let’s not forget one woman. The only woman prime minister ne inn ko apni jooti ke neeche crush kiya tha (who crushed them under her shoes).”
“No matter how much suffering she caused to this nation, she crushed them like mosquitoes at the cost of her own life. Lekin desh k tukde nahi hone diye (But she did not let the country break). Even after decades of her death, aaj bhi uske naam se kampte hain yeh. Inko vaisa he guru chahiye (they shiver from her name even today. They need such a guru),” she further wrote.
Alleging that the actor’s recent remarks “entice communal hatred for farmers and Sikhs,” DSGMC President Manjinder Singh Sirsa sought legal action against her for “communally provocative and derogatory” social media content.
In her petition filed under section 482 of the CrPC (Saving of inherent powers of High Court), Ranaut stated that the FIR is registered to “maliciously prosecute” her for exercising her fundamental right to freedom of speech.
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Stating that the offences are not made out against her and that the “police have failed to apply their mind” while registering the FIR, as per the Live Law report, the petition added that Ranaut had “merely exercised her fundamental rights to condemn the banned terror outfit.”
Over the past year, Ranaut has taken to social media expressing her support for the three Farm Bills that were passed by the central government during the monsoon session 2020. Throughout this time, the actor also called the farmers protesting against the Bills, “terrorists“, “Khalistanis” and “anti-social elements.” Her car was stopped in Kiratpur Sahib in Punjab recently by protesters demanding an apology for her statements against the farmers who had been protesting.