Farmer Protest Remark: SC Dismisses Kangana Ranaut's Defamation Qusahing Plea as Withdrawn
It further added that after the court's suggestion, her counsel sought to withdraw the petition.
Farmer Protest Remark Supreme Court Dismissed Kangana Ranaut's Defamation Quashing Plea As Withdrawn: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s plea to quash a criminal defamation case against her, arising from her remarks during the 2020-21 farmers’ protests, the Law Beat reported.
The case was filed against her based on a complaint by 73-year-old Mahinder Kaur, a farmer protester.
According to the report, the top court observed that Kangana’s tweet “added spice” and could not be ignored as a mere retweet.
The bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta heard Kangana’s challenge to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had earlier refused to quash the complaint, the report said.
In 2020, Kangana Ranaut reportedly misidentified 73-year-old farmer protester Mahinder Kaur as Bilkis Bano, popularly known as the ‘Shaheen Bagh Dadi,’ during the anti-CAA protests, leading to the defamation complaint.
Kangana Ranaut’s counsel, according to the report, argued that the controversy pertained only to a retweet and that she had already given clarification.
However, the bench added that her comment “added spice” and that the interpretation of her tweet could not be examined in a quashing petition, noting that such clarifications were matters for trial, the report added.
It further added that after the court’s suggestion, her counsel sought to withdraw the petition.
The Supreme Court dismissed the matter as withdrawn.
Kangana had moved the Supreme Court seeking to quash the complaint and the summoning order issued by a Bathinda (Punjab) Magistrate on February 22, 2022.
The complaint stems from a retweet by Kangana, which included her commentary about a woman protester during the farmers’ protest.
The elderly complainant, Mahinder Kaur, is from Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Punjab’s Bathinda district. She alleged that Kangana had made false remarks against her by referring to her as the same “Dadi” Bilkis Bano, who had been part of the Shaheen Bagh protest. Dadi Bilkis Bano was also featured internationally, according to the report.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed Ranaut’s plea for quashing the complaint on August 1, 2025.
The Court had noted, “There are specific allegations against the petitioner, who is a celebrity, that false and defamatory imputations by her in the retweet have dented the respondent’s reputation and lowered her in her own estimation, as well as in the eyes of others. Therefore, filing of the complaint to vindicate her rights cannot be termed mala fide.”