Bathinda/Chandigarh: Actor-politician Kangana Ranaut on Monday was granted bail in a defamation case by a court in Punjab’s Bathinda, as she regretted the “misunderstanding” that arose following her social media post and said every ‘mata’ (mother) is respectable to her.
The court had last September directed the BJP MP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh to be present in person and rejected her plea to appear via video conference.
Security was beefed up in and around the Bathinda court complex ahead of the actor’s appearance. She came escorted by security men and local police.
The court complex was corralled behind police barricades.
The defamation case stems from a retweet the actor made with her own comment on Mahinder Kaur, the 73-year-old complainant from Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Punjab’s Bathinda district.
The comment was made in 2021 during the farmers’ protest against the now-repealed farm laws.
Ranaut, who wore a saree and sported sunglasses, reached the court complex around 2 pm.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, she asserted that she had made no comments against any individual. “Whatever misunderstanding happened with the family of Mahinder (Kaur) ji, I gave a message to her husband for ‘mata ji’ about how she was the victim of a misunderstanding,” she said afterwards.
Mahinder Kaur was not present in the court, but her husband was. Ranaut said, “Never in my dreams could I imagine this, the way this controversy was created. Every ‘mata’, be she from Punjab or Himachal, is respectable to me.”
Asked whether she acknowledged that she committed a mistake unknowingly, she replied that if one looked at the case properly, there was nothing from her side. “There was a retweet, which was used as a meme. I have also spoken and discussed this with the husband of Mahinder
ji,” she said.