Explained: A look at the Kangana Ranaut versus Hrithik Roshan legal battle

He first responded on Twitter, disputing the existence of any previous romantic relationship with Kangana Ranaut. He wrote that there were more chances of him having had “an affair with d (sic) Pope”.

Hrithik Roshan followed this with a legal notice, demanding a public apology from his former co-actor. Kangana Ranaut refused to apologise, claiming that the two had been romantically involved in 2014. She sent a counter-notice to Hrithik Roshan, asking him to take his notice back or face a criminal case.

Why did Hrithik Roshan file an impersonation complaint?

Hrithik Roshan’s legal notice alleged mental harassment by Kangana Ranaut. It claimed that she had sent him 1,439 emails, to which he never responded, besides telling people in the film industry that they had been in a relationship. It suggested that whoever Kangana Ranaut had been in touch with was an imposter, pretending to be Hrithik Roshan.

Kangana Ranaut denied the suggestion, saying that the particular email ID used for her correspondence with him had been given to her by Hrithik Roshan himself. She added that the email had been kept private so as to prevent it from having a negative impact on the divorce proceedings between Hrithik Roshan and his wife Sussanne Khan.

The altercation between the two actors, who had worked together in Krrish 3 (2013), had begun when Roshan sent Ranaut a legal notice after she referred to him as her “silly ex” during an interview. (File)

The war of words continued on Twitter in the meantime, with Hrithik Roshan alleging at one point that Kangana Ranaut was “imagining” things as she suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome. His comment led to much criticism, especially parents of children with autism spectrum disorders.

Hrithik Roshan finally filed a case with the Mumbai police’s Cyber Cell under section 419 (impersonation) of the Indian Penal Code and section 66( c) — identity theft — and section 66 (d) — cheating by personation using computer resource — of the Information Technology Act. Investigation by the police, however, failed to unearth much as the email ID was found to be US-based and a NIL report was filed in 2017. 📣 Follow Express Explained on Telegram

How did Kangana Ranaut react to the latest development?

The news of the case’s transfer to the CIU created a furore on social media, after Kangana Ranaut posted a tweet accusing Hrithik Roshan of dredging up an old issue and asking, “kab tak royega ek chote se affair ke liye (how long will you cry over a minor affair)”. She wrote, “His sob story starts again, so many years since our break up and his divorce but he refuses to move on, refuses to date any woman, just when I gather courage to find some hope in my personal life he starts the same drama again.”