Actor turned politician Kangana Ranaut, known for her bold remarks, apologised before the Bathinda court on Monday and was granted bail in a defamation case.

The case dates back to her 2021 social media post during the farmers’ protest, which a 73-year-old woman, Mahinder Kaur from Bahadurgarh Jandian village, claimed had defamed her.

Kaur had alleged that Kangana wrongly identified her as Shaheen Bagh protester, Bilkis Bano, and suggested that such women were paid to join protests. The post had gone viral during the 2020–21 protests against the now-repealed farm laws.

After her court appearance, the 39-year-old actress told reporters that her post was not aimed at any individual. 

She said, “Whatever misunderstanding happened with Mahinder ji’s family, I sent a message to mata ji through her husband, explaining she was the victim of a misunderstanding.”

The Fashion actor added that she respects all women and said, “Every mata, be she from Punjab or Himachal, is respectable to me.” The BJP MP insisted she did not intend to hurt anyone but expressed regret over how her comments were “blown out of proportion.”

Earlier, the Bathinda court had summoned the Emergency lead in February 2022.

Her attempts to get the case quashed were rejected by both the Punjab and Haryana High Courts and later the Supreme Court.

In a related controversy last year, Kangana was slapped by a female constable at the Chandigarh airport during a security check, reportedly over her earlier remarks about the farmers’ protest.