FIR registered against Kangana Ranaut, her sister for allegedly spreading religious disharmony

An FIR was registered on Saturday against Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel in Mumbai under charges of sedition and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion.

According to the police, the FIR was registered against the two sisters at Bandra police station on the order of a local court here.

The case has been registered under Section 124 A (sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting its religion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Observed that prima facie it appears a cognizable offence has been committed by the accused, a local court in Mumbai's Bandra had earlier today issued directions for the registration of an FIR against Kangana Ranaut and her sister for allegedly trying to spread communal hatred.

When asked about the court order, Kangana Ranaut's lawyer Rizwan Siddiqui said, "My client's tweets are not used for spreading communal hatred. It spread due to several other reasons... There is a burden of proof on the complainant to show how the post spread communal hatred or who was affected by it. It cannot apply only by looking at the statement."

He also said the tweets must also have some undertone of an attack on religion for these charges to apply. "For further comments, I need to see the full complaint along with the other documents referred to and relied upon by the complainant," Siddiqui said.

The order was issued on a complaint, filed by one Sahil Ahsrafali Sayyed, alleging that the sisters through their comment on social media tried to create division between Hindus and Muslims and spread the communal hatred among the communities.

During the hearing, the complainant had submitted that Ranaut continuously defamed Bollywood film industry for the last couple of months as a hub of nepotism, favouritism, through her tweets from her official Twitter and TV interviews.

"She is creating divisions between Hindu and Muslim artists. She has tweeted very objectionable comments, which has not only hurt his religious sentiment but also the feeling of many film colleagues," the complainant had submitted.

The complaint had alleged that Rangoli Chandel had also made an objectionable tweet to spread communal hatred among Hindu and Muslim communities. It said that the Bandra police station did not take cognizance of the offence, after which the complainant moved the court.

( With inputs from ANI )