A sessions court in Mumbai on Monday dismissed a petition filed by actor Kangana Ranaut to suspend the proceedings initiated against her in connection with the defamation case filed by lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar, Live Law reported.

The court is yet to issue a detailed copy of the order, specifying the reason for the rejection of Ranaut’s plea, according to PTI.

Ranaut had challenged an order issued by the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Andheri in February, asking her to appear before it in connection with the defamation case.

The court issued a bailable warrant against Ranaut on March 1 after she failed to appear before it in person. However, it granted her bail in the case later that month.

The actor argued in her petition that before summoning her, the magistrate did not follow the procedure laid down in Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, under which both the complainant and witnesses in the case have to be examined upon oath.

Ranaut alleged that the four witnesses who Akhtar named in his complaint were not examined under oath, according to Hindustan Times.

Also read: Kangana Ranaut gets bail in defamation case filed by Javed Akhtar

Akhtar had filed the defamation case against Ranaut in November last year for her remarks against him in a TV interview, while speaking about the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Akhtar had accused Ranaut of causing “irreparable damage” to his reputation. “Each and every allegation and imputation made in the said interview is false, defamatory, malicious, and has been made with reckless disregard to the truth,” he said in his complaint.

In December, the Andheri metropolitan magistrate’s court had directed the police to investigate Akhtar’s complaint against Ranaut.

Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14, in what the police initially said appeared to be a case of suicide. An All India Institute of Medical Sciences panel confirmed this in October.

Three central agencies – the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate and the Narcotics Control Bureau – were drawn into the investigation.