Non-Cognisable offence registered against Javed Akhtar over RSS remark

Mumbai: Mumbai Police registered a non-cognisable (NC) offence against Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar on Monday over his alleged remark against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on a complaint filed by a lawyer, a senior police officer said.

Earlier in the day, a Mumbai Police official and the complainant lawyer had said that an FIR (First Information Report) was registered against the veteran lyricist.

Later in the day, Mulund police station senior inspector Avinash Bhise clarified to PTI that an NC was registered against Akhtar and not FIR as told by the official earlier.

Complainant Santosh Dubey has made and circulated a video of himself claiming that the police had registered an FIR against Akhtar (76) based on his complaint.

The lawyer had last month 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.

In the said interview, Akhtar allegedly drew parallels between the Taliban and Hindu extremists.

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

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

Mulund police station senior inspector Avinash Bhise said, "We have registered an NC (non-cognisable offence) under section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC against Akhtar. Further investigation is underway".

In the case of a non-cognizable offence, the police cannot arrest the accused without a warrant as well as cannot start an investigation without the permission of the court.