In temporary relief to actor Kangana Ranaut, the Karnataka High Court set aside a Tumakuru court order asking the police to book her for a controversial tweet made against farmers. In the tweet, she had referred to those protesting the three farm laws as ‘terrorists’. While the FIR (first information report) in this case has been set aside by the HC, the court has also ordered the magistrate to have a re-look at the case.
Justice HP Sandesh on Thursday observed that the magistrate had ‘failed to apply his mind’ and passed the order to register the FIR mechanically without assessing the merits of the case. Further, he also took critical note of Kangana’s tweet and reprimanded her. “Who gave you the power to call farmers or anyone as terrorists, how dare you say this? Celebrities while making statements should first hold their tongue,” the judge said.
Kangana’s tweet, dated September 21, had read: "Prime Minister, someone who is sleeping can be woken up, someone who has a misconception can be explained to, but if someone is pretending to sleep, what difference does it make to explain to them? These are the same terrorists, not a single person has gone to the citizenship from CAA but they have spilled blood on the streets.”
In October 2020, a Tumakuru court had directed registration of an FIR after an advocate named Ramesh Naik L approached the court on the matter. Ramesh had taken objection to Kangana's tweet. He had sought action against Kangana under Section 156(3) of the CrPC or Code of Criminal Procedure which says that any magistrate empowered under Section 190 may order an investigation by a police officer.
In his petition, Ramesh had sought that the police book Kangana under Sections 153A (creating disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different by words), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 108 (a person abets an offence) of the Indian Penal Code.
In his order, Justice Sandesh also directed the Judicial Magistrate First Class court – who had passed the order on the complaint made by Ramesh in Tumakuru – to assess the matter again.
Notably, another case is being heard at the high court over an FIR filed against Kangana over another tweet she made against farmers. The complainant in this case, another advocate named Harshvardha Patil, had filed a complaint in Belagavi in Karnataka against Kangana’s tweet from February 6, 2021. The actor had responded to singer Rihanna’s tweet on internet shutdown on the Delhi borders, saying, “no one is talking about it because they are not farmers they are terrorists who are trying to divide India, so that China can take over our vulnerable broken nation and make it a Chinese colony much like USA…”