Actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel on Tuesday were granted interim relief from arrest by the Bombay High Court in relation to a case filed against them based on their social media posts.
The court further ordered the Mumbai police not to take any action against the duo and instructed Ranaut and her sister to appear before the police on January 8. The case will be heard next on January 11.
#UPDATE | Bombay High Court directs actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel to appear before the police on January 8; asks the police not to take any action against them till then. https://t.co/CTL1eP5ddZ
— ANI (@ANI) November 24, 2020
The court was hearing the sedition case filed against Ranaut and Chandel after an FIR was registered on the duo by casting director Munawwar Ali Khan. He had complained that the sisters were trying to create a communal divide through their provocative social media posts.
The Mumbai Police had asked the sisters to appear before the Bandra Police. On Monday, in an attempt to quash the FIR, Ranaut and Chandel moved court.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, the case was headed by a two-judge bench comprising Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik. Questioning the relevance of sedition charges, the report quoted Shinde as saying, “Why is the sedition section invoked? Why are we treating citizens of our country like this?” As per the report, Khan alleged that the sisters, through their posts, were tarnishing the image of the whole film industry.
According to a report by ANI, Khan had filed an FIR alleging that Chandel had made social media posts that spread communal hatred among Hindus and Muslims. Khan also alleged that Ranaut joined her sister to make provocative posts on religious grounds.
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The case has been registered under Section 123A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting its religion) of the Indian Penal Code, the report stated.
In April, Chandel’s verified Twitter handle was suspended after she tweeted a post, that was termed as spreading hate speech and advocating dictatorship, as per a report by Scroll.