Plea In Bombay High Court Seeks Suspension Of Kangana Ranaut's Twitter Account For Allegedly Spreading Communal Hatred

Advocate Files Petition Before Bombay High Court Seeking Permanent Suspension Of Kangana Ranaut's Twitter Account For Allegedly Spreading Communal Hatred

A Mumbai based lawyer has filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court against actor Kanagana Ranaut praying for getting her twitter account permanently suspended for allegedly spreading "continuous hatred, disharmony in the country and attempting to divide the country with her extremist/derogatory tweets and promoting crime in the country."

Advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh has previously filed two criminal complaints against the actor, one of them also arraigns Kangana's sister Rangoli Chandel as an accused. On the basis of these complaints, in October, the Magistrate Court at Bandra ordered registration of FIR against the actor and her sister for tweets allegedly promoting communal disharmony and the Andheri Magistrate Court ordered inquiry against the 33-year-old actor and her sister for allegedly posting derogatory tweets against the Muslim community.

The petitioner had also written to the Advocate General of Maharashtra AA Kumbhakoni seeking his consent to initiate contempt proceedings against the actor in Bombay High Court for her tweet allegedly undermining the judiciary (Magistrate Court).

The petition points out Rangoli Chandel's abusive tweet dated April 15, 2020 stating that Tablighi Jamaat members should be shot dead, which led to the suspension of her twitter account after massive outrage. Kanagna supported her sister's tweet and even posted a video on social media in this regard. In the said video, the actor called Tablighi Jamaat members Terrorists.

Furthermore, the petition states-

"It is already evident from the prima facie facts that Respondent No. 1 has no respect for the varied communities of India, law of the land, authorized government bodies and shamelessly she has prominently even made fun of the judiciary, as after the above order of the learned Magistrate Court at Bandra, Mumbai she has promptly yet again tweeted malicious and defamatory tweet against the judiciary terming it "Pappu Sena" thereby even amounting to Contempt of Court."

The petitioner advocate has also averred that Twitter is not following its own guidelines and policies. Moreover, as per Rule 3(11) of the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules 2011, Twitter being a social media giant and intermediary as per Section 2(w) of the IT Act is supposed to redress complaints within one month from the date of receipt, the petition states.