Actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut was granted bail on Monday by a Bathinda court in Punjab in the defamation case filed by farmer protestor Mahinder Kaur. For those not in the know, the case stems from a 2021 incident when Kaur accused Ranaut of tarnishing her reputation through a social media post made during the farmers’ protest.The actress arrived at the court around 2 pm, dressed in a saree and sunglasses. She addressed the media and expressed regret over the “misunderstanding” that followed her post but maintained that she never directed her remarks toward any individual. Kangana said to the reporters at the court, “Whatever misunderstanding happened with the family of Mahinder ji, I gave a message to her husband for mata ji about how she was the victim of a misunderstanding. Never in my dreams could I imagine this controversy. Every mata, be she from Punjab or Himachal, is respectable to me.” When asked whether she believed she had made an inadvertent mistake, Ranaut reiterated that her post had been misinterpreted. “There was a retweet that was used as a meme. There were many women in that meme, and no comments were made against any individual,” she explained, adding that she had already spoken with Mahinder Kaur’s husband to clear the air. The actor further emphasised that while she “regretted the misunderstanding,” her intention was never to insult or misidentify anyone.Mahinder Kaur’s lawyer, Raghubir Singh Beniwal, confirmed that the court granted Ranaut bail based on a bond submitted by her father. He also noted that Ranaut had filed a plea seeking permanent exemption from personal appearances — a request he opposed.According to Beniwal, when the court asked Ranaut if she wanted to make a statement, she said she wished to apologise to the complainant, insisting that her post was not meant to target anyone.The court then turned to Mahinder Kaur’s husband, Labh Singh, who said he would consult his family before deciding whether to accept Ranaut’s apology. The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for November 24.The complaint, originally filed in January 2021, accused Ranaut of wrongly identifying Mahinder Kaur as Bilkis Bano, an elderly activist associated with the Shaheen Bagh protests. Kaur alleged that the actor’s “false imputations and remarks” had unfairly compared her to the “dadi” from Shaheen Bagh, even though she had been part of the farmers’ protest from the very beginning.
