A magistrates’ court on Monday issued a bailable warrant against actress Kangana Ranaut in a criminal complaint alleging defamation filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar.

On the last occasion, summons was issued against Kangana Ranaut to appear before the Andheri magistrate court, failing which it said a bailable warrant would be issued against her.

Advocate Vrinda Grover appearing for Javed Akhtar urged the court to issue the warrant as Ranaut had not complied with the order to be present and her advocate did not file an application seeking an exemption for her.

The advocate representing the actor told the court that he would be challenging the order of summons. Metropolitan Magistrate R.R. Khan said, “You are at liberty to challenge the order, but that cannot absolve you from appearance here.”

In an interview on national television on July 19, Ranaut had linked Javed Akhtar to the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. A criminal complaint was filed on November 3 before the Andheri metropolitan magistrate under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Previously, the Juhu Police station probing the case had told the court that offenses alleged by Mr. Akhtar required further investigation. A copy of the report was submitted to the court along with a video clip of the interview. The court was informed that despite summons being issued to Ms. Ranaut by the Juhu police station, she had not appeared before them.