A magistrate court in Mumbai dropped extortion charges against lyricist Javed Akhtar in a criminal complaint filed by actress Kangana Ranaut.
However, Metropolitan Magistrate R.M. Shaikh at Andheri issued process against Akhtar for offences under Sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (insulting modesty of woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and asked him to appear before the court on August 5.
Ranaut claimed in her complaint that Akhtar had invited her to his place in 2020 in order to resolve an ongoing dispute with actor Hrithik Roshan.
During the meeting, Ranaut alleged that when she refused to apologise to Roshan, Akhtar threatened and insulted her, thus committing the offence of extortion.
She filed a complaint against Akhtaralleging criminal conspiracy, extortion and insulting her modesty by invading her privacy.
After recording Ranaut’s statement on July 6, the court took cognizance of the complaint on July 24.
In the order, the magistrate observed that though the allegations of extortion had been raised, no case was made out against Akhtar for extortion.