Description
Javed Akhtar is due to appear in Mulund court on 31 March. The Mumbai Magistrate Court on Monday rejected the guilty plea of veteran poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar who was challenging summons issued against him by a magistrate in a criminal case brought by a lawyer for his allegedly objectionable comments against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. (RSS). The lawyer, Santosh Dubey, filed a case against Mr. Akhtar in the Mulund Suburban Magistrates Court in October 2021 under Sections 499 (libel) and 500 (defamation judgment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). ).
The magistrate, after hearing arguments from both parties, issued a summons to the veteran lyricist in December of last year.
The 78-year-old Bollywood personality, through his lawyer, filed a motion in the Court of Sessions against the summons.
"The Court of First Instance has dismissed the application for review of the renowned writer Javed Akhtar against the order of the Mulund Court," said Dubey.
Akhtar is due to appear in court in Mulund on March 31, it added.
The plaintiff, who claims to be a supporter of RSS, had alleged that Mr. Akhtar, in an attempt to score political points, needlessly dragged down RSS's name and smeared the organization in a "calculated and well-planned move" while making these comments during a televised interview.
The defendant's statements during the interview were aimed at smearing the Hindutva organization, which is based in Nagpur, as well as discouraging and misleading people who have joined the RSS or who would like to join the group, according to the complaint.
Akhtar had made the controversial comments in the context of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
