The actress and her sister have been issued summons by the Andheri Metropolitan Court, in connection with the criminal defamation cases filed by actors Aditya Pancholi and his wife Zarina Wahab
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; June 27, 2019)

Call it a strange coincidence, but Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel have been summoned to court on July 26, the day the actress’ next, Mental Hai Kya, releases. They have been issued summons by the Andheri Metropolitan Court in the criminal defamation cases filed by Aditya Pancholi and his wife Zarina Wahab in 2017.

Four cases were filed after Kangana allegedly defamed the actor couple on national TV, while Rangoli took to social media to make allegations against him. Summons have been issued in connection with each case — Aditya Pancholi vs Kangana Ranaut, Aditya Pancholi vs Rangoli Chandel, Zarina Wahab vs Kangana Ranaut and Zarina Wahab vs Rangoli Chandel.

Aditya, who is being represented by advocate Shreya Srivastava, told BT, “We filed the case in 2017, when Kangana appeared on two TV shows and said a lot of things against my wife and me, which we felt were extremely defamatory. It’s taken two years for the matter to get this far, but I trust our judiciary to serve justice. The court has finally issued summons against both the sisters. Kangana had said a lot of stuff, which she will now have to prove, and failing which, she will face the consequences. I understand that matters like these take their own time to conclude, but I won’t lose hope.”

Aditya’s lawyer Shreya said that Kangana and Rangoli have to be present for the hearing on July 26. She added, “We had filed these cases two years ago. The judge had issued orders to investigate the matter, and the police did not find any FIRs or NCs against Aditya, as claimed by Kangana on television. If the sisters don’t turn up, they will have to apply for bail on the same day. They’ve been charged for a bailable offence.”

We reached out to Kangana and Rangoli’s team, but they didn’t respond to our queries till we went to press.

While acid attack survivor Reshma Qureshi took the fashion world by storm when she walked the ramp in New York this week, back in India, a special court sentenced Preeti Rathi's attacker with the death penalty, reigniting the issue of such rampant incidents in the country. Reshma and Rangoli Chandel (Kangana Ranaut's sister), who is also a survivor, share their stories...
Madhureeta Mukherjee and Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; September 11, 2016)

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut's sister, Rangoli faced a brutal acid attack in 2006. She fought back after almost losing an eye and ear, but she still hasn't forgotten the trauma. Today, she's come into her own and works closely with her star sister. But her battle for survival has been horrific. However, she had a great support system in Kangana, her mom and Ajay Chandel, the man who stood by her. Rangoli hails the death penalty, which was announced recently for Ankur Panwar in the Preeti Rathi acid attack case, as a positive development, but doubts if things will change till there are serious checks on the storage and availability of acid.

TAKE ACTION AGAINST THOSE WHO STORE ACID
Rangoli still remembers the trauma of the days and months after the attack. “I almost lost one eye; my windpipe and food pipe were shrinking. I don't remember how many surgeries I went through. Whenever my mother saw me, she would faint. My father couldn't bear to look at me and took to drinking. It's not just the survivor who suffers, but the entire family. I was engaged to an Air Force officer, but once he saw me at the hospital, he never came back. For the first couple of months, I couldn't see myself in the mirror. I'm lucky to have a sister like Kangana, who got me the best treatment possible then,“ she remembers.

This is why she hails the verdict in the Preeti Rathi case as landmark. “With due respect to the honourable judge, this (the death penalty) is the correct verdict. Whoever commits this crime should get the same punishment. No bail, no life term, as they will get out after a few years. But then, acid is still available in the market. The authorities should crack down on people who store and sell it,“ she stresses.

MY SUPPORT SYSTEM HELPED ME SURVIVE
Through that difficult phase, Rangoli found support from the man she married. “My husband, Ajay, whom I knew from my school days, met me after I came out of the hospital. He didn't make me feel different. That also helped me regain confidence. Yoga and meditation helped considerably. Thankfully, my doctor was supportive too, as were Kangana and my mom. My support system helped me survive. Usually, girls get paranoid about just a pimple. For me, this was more than just mental trauma and the pain. You feel numb, you don't know your future,“ she recalls.

It's known that Kangana too was threatened by the attacker and had to seek police security. “This was at a time when she was not a big star. Yet, she diverted her focus to me and my recovery. She spent her earnings on my treatment. The man who attacked me got a seven-year sentence. We were struggling with our lives; we didn't know kya hoga, kaise hoga... But you have to come out of it. You can't be in that mourning zone forever,“ says Rangoli.