Bombay High Court heard Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut's plea against the FIR lodged at Mumbai's Bandra Police station. The complainant alleged that Kangana and her sister Rangoli incited communal violence through their social media handles.

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Kangana and Rangoli had moved High Court against the FIR on Monday. They had challenged the order of the magistrate court in Bandra, which was passed on October 16.

The court has now summoned the sisters to appear before Bandra police station on January 8, 2021. Kangana and Rangoli are expected to be present between 12 pm and 2 pm on the Friday afternoon.

The court has also granted the sisters interim protection from arrest. It also observed they have been charged with sedition too often.

Their lawyer has assured the court that Kangana and Rangoli would not make any statement regarding the FIR on their social media handles.

The sisters were summoned by the Bandra police for the third time on November 23-24. Kangana was summoned for November 23 and Rangoli for November 24.

These are the third summons to the sisters after they failed to appear before the police officials on November 10, and November 11 and before that between October 26-27. The sisters had missed the two summons since they were busy with their brother Aksht's wedding preparations.

On October 17, after taking cognisance of Munnawaral aka Sahil Ahsrafali Sayyed's complaint, upon the direction of the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate J.Y. Ghule, an FIR was registered against the siblings. In his FIR, Bollywood casting director and fitness trainer, Sayyed had accused the two of spreading communal hatred, defaming the film industry, portraying the people working in it in a bad light with claims of nepotism, drug addiction, communal bias, attempting to drive a wedge between artistes of different communities, calling them murderers, insulting religions, etc, on the social media and through public statements.

It said that the Bandra police station did not take cognizance of the offence, after which the complainant moved the court.

Later, an FIR was registered against Kangana Ranaut and Rangoli Chandel at Bandra police station under charges of sedition and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion.

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).

Notably, Bombay High Court had also promised to deliver its judgement in Kangana Ranaut's house demolition case earlier today. The final decision would be announced on November 27.

(With inputs from ANI)