Mumbai: Lyricist Javed Akhtar has sought to intervene in a petition filed before Bombay High Court by actor Kangana Ranaut for her passport renewal. He filed an intervention application to say that she ought to have disclosed a defamation complaint which he filed against her as a magistrate had summoned her in that case before it.

Akhtar, 75, said he was seeking to place on record certain facts for consideration of the court. He said that during hearing of her plea for permission to renew her passport that expires in September, her counsel Rizwan Siddiquee in response to a query had, on instructions, submitted that “no criminal cases are pending” against her in any court arising out of two FIR which she had challenged. The HC had accepted the statement.

She had moved the HC as she said the regional passport office had raised queries over two FIRs against her, one allegedly for sedition offence at Bandra police station, filed by Munawar Ali over her social media posts and the other at Khar police station filed by Ashish Kaul, author of the book Didda: The Warrior Queen of Kashmir, over alleged copyright infringement.

Akhtar said the HC order records that the Centre’s counsel had said if Kangana’s counsel “is ready to make a statement that no criminal case is pending against the petitioner…the Passport Authority is ready to consider the application for renewal of passport, in accordance with Passport Act, rules, procedure, expeditiously.”

The writer-lyricist said the specific query put to her counsel was with regard to “any” criminal cases that may be pending against her. She ought to have disclosed the “pendency of case titled ‘Javed Akhtar v Kanana Ranaut’ pending before the 10th MM court, Andheri. On the basis of “false and misleading statement’’ the Regional Passport Office renewed her passport on June 29, said his intervention application, dated July 1. Advocate Siddiquee on Friday said, “We will respond to the intervention application before court, once we are served.’’