Actor Siddharth summoned by Tamil Nadu police in Saina Nehwal defamation case

The Chennai Police Commissioner on Thursday (January 20) said that actor Siddharth has been summoned over his defamation case against badminton ace Saina Nehwal. “Actor Siddharth has been summoned (over his controversial tweet on badminton player Saina Nehwal). We’ve actually received 2 complaints; another one is on defamation in a legal frame, not a criminal case. We only need his statement,” said Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are thinking about how to get the statement. We have summoned actor Siddharth,” confirmed the Chennai Police Commissioner.

Earlier, a case was registered against actor Siddharth by the Cybercrime wing of Hyderabad Police over his controversial tweet against ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, police said last week. Based on a complaint lodged by a woman here against Siddharth over his remarks online against the badminton player, the case was registered against the actor under IPC Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of women) and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, a senior police official told PTI.

Dear @NSaina pic.twitter.com/plkqxVKVxY — Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) January 11, 2022

Saina Nehwal had said she is happy that Siddharth issued a public apology for his unsavoury remarks on her after she raised concerns about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach recently. Siddharth’s reply to the Olympic bronze medallist’s tweet on PM Modi’s security breach in Punjab attracted much flak a few days ago, with the National Commission for Women (NCW) asking Twitter India to ‘immediately’ block the actor’s account.

(with agency inputs)