FIR registered against lyricist Javed Akhtar over RSS remark

Mumbai, October 4

Mumbai police registered an FIR against lyricist Javed Akhtar on Monday over his alleged remark against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an official said.

The FIR was registered at the Mulund police station on a complaint filed by city-based lawyer Santosh Dubey.

"The FIR has been registered under Section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC," the official from Mulund police station said. 

The lawyer last month had sent a legal notice to Akhtar for allegedly making "false and defamatory" remarks against the RSS in an interview to a news channel, and sought an apology from him.

Akhtar (76) in a recent interview ‘had drawn parallels’ between the Taliban and Hindu extremists.

Dubey in his notice had claimed that by making such statements, Akhtar had committed an offence under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC.

"I had earlier sent a legal notice to Akhtar and asked him to apologise for his remark, but he failed to do so. Now, an FIR has been registered against him on my complaint," the lawyer told PTI. PTI