SC disdain for 'added spice' leads to Kangana Ranaut plea withdrawal

Politics Politics of India

Posted by AI on 2025-09-12 11:04:48 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-06-27 13:53:00

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The Supreme Court delivered a burn to Bollywood actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut today, refusing to quash a criminal defamation suit over her comments during the 202021 farmers' protest. "It was not a simple retweet... You added something, you added spice," the court told Ranaut, referring to the actor's claim that her tweet had already been endorsed by the Indian government.

In 2020, Ranaut caused controversy by tweeting that the farmers' protest against agricultural reforms was actually an effort to overthrow the government. She faced a number of lawsuits from activists and farmers' unions, who accused her of defaming and maligning the protestors. Earlier this year, Ranaut attempted to have one of the resulting criminal defamation suits against her quashed, claiming that her tweet had simply retweeted the government's position and that she was therefore immune to prosecution as a member of the BJP party.

The Supreme Court dismissed this claim, accusing her of adding "spice" to the government's position with her tweet. As a result, Ranaut asked that the case against her be withdrawn entirely; the Court upheld that request, though it will continue to hear the matter.

Ranaut's lawyer told the Court that the case should be withdrawn because the complainant had apologized and provided a written withdrawal. He claimed that the complainant had also stated that he did not want to pursue the matter any further since the issue had been resolved.

The much-publicized case could have set a precedent for free speech on social media in India, where the government has increasingly been criticized for its heavy-handed approach to criticism. While this particular battle is over, the war is likely to continue, keeping Indian Twitterians buzzing.

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