Javed Akhtar leaves court after no hearing in Kangana Ranaut case: ‘Khatam toh karna hai’

Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar arrived at Andheri Magistrate court on Thursday but had to leave disappointed. As per a new report, Javed returned after learning that the hearing had been cancelled as the magistrate was on leave. (Also read: Kangana Ranaut is ‘dictating own terms’, says the court: ‘She might be a celebrity bu)

Javed was at the court for a hearing in his defamation case against actor Kangana Ranaut. He filed the complaint in the court in November 2020, claiming that Kangana had made defamatory statements against him in a television interview, which allegedly damaged his reputation. Recently, the court dismissed Kangana’s plea, asking for exemption from appearing for hearings in the case.

Javed, however, told India Today on Thursday that he makes it a point to come to every hearing. “Main koshish karta hun ki har baar aoon (I try to come every time),” he said. Javed added, “Jo shuru kiya hai, use khatam toh karna hi hai (We have to end what we started).”

Kangana had sought permanent exemption from appearance, saying she is one of the top most female actors of the Hindi film industry and she needs to travel to different parts of the country and international locations for professional commitments. The court, however, rejected her application and said, “No doubt, being a celebrity, the accused (Kangana) is having her professional assignments, but she cannot forget that she is an accused in this case.”

“If the accused is permanently exempted at this juncture, then the complainant, a senior citizen, will be seriously prejudiced and there will be no progress in the trial,” the court order had said. Javed’s advocate had opposed the application, arguing that Kangana was showing a casual attitude towards the court.

In his complaint, Javed claimed that Kangana dragged his name during an interview while referring to a ‘coterie’ existing in Bollywood, following the alleged suicide by actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Kangana had later filed a counter complaint in the same court against Javed for alleged “extortion and criminal intimidation”. The actor in her complaint against Javed claimed that following her public dispute with her co-star, the lyricist had called her and her sister Rangoli Chandel to his house with “malafide intentions and ulterior motives and then criminally intimidated and threatened” her.