kangana-ranaut-in-legal-trouble-over-gandhi-family-posts-fir-registered-in-shimla

Himachal Pradesh Police has registered an FIR against BJP MP Kangana Ranaut in Shimla over a social media post concerning the Gandhi family. The complaint alleges that the remarks were inflammatory and had the potential to disturb public peace.

 

The case was registered on Friday, November 13, following a complaint by retired Captain Atul Sharma, a resident of Shimla. Sharma said the post was uploaded from Ranaut’s verified social media account on November 10.

 

According to the complaint, the post contained what Sharma described as “highly inflammatory insinuations” relating to the deaths of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her sons, Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

 

The FIR has been registered under Sections 196(1)(b), 353(2) and 356(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Shimla Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh confirmed that the case had been registered and said the matter would be investigated.

 

Sharma also objected to the post’s reference to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, who he alleged was described as a “mysterious foreign national”. He claimed that the post suggested Sonia Gandhi had reached a cafe abroad before members of the Gandhi family were killed one after another, eventually becoming the “head of the government”, followed by the words, “How convenient.”

 

The complaint further referred to a mention of Maneka Gandhi leaving the family residence after Sanjay Gandhi’s death.

 

Sharma maintained that the content went beyond political criticism. He alleged that it could encourage hostility, affect communal harmony and threaten public tranquillity. He also claimed that the post circulated misleading information capable of causing fear or alarm and promoting enmity between different groups.

 

In an email sent to the Director General of Police at 7.51 pm on Thursday, Sharma requested immediate registration of an FIR and a time-bound cyber-forensic examination of the post. Police said the investigation was underway.

 

Ranaut’s remarks followed the resurfacing of an archival home video believed to be from around 1981. The footage shows a family dinner attended by Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi and young Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.

 

The post appeared on the same day that Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, was released.