Munmun Dutta, who plays the role of Babita Ji in the show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, has been in legal trouble owing to a statement. Her petition has been rejected by a special court established under the SC-ST Act of Hisar. A bench of Justice Ajay Tevtiya has turned down her plea for interim bail, owing to which Munmun is now facing the threat of arrest.
Munmun Dutta had released a video on her YouTube channel on May 9 last year. In the video, she had passed insulting remarks about the scheduled caste community.
Following the uproar that her comments caused, Dalit rights activist and lawyer Rajat Kalsan filed an FIR in the Hansi police station.
On May 13, a case was registered under the SC/ST Act. Apart from Hansi, an FIR was also registered in the states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Munmun Dutta had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the transfer of all the cases at one place in Hansi, Haryana. The actor had also demanded in the petition that all the cases registered against her be quashed, something turned down by the Supreme Court. After that, Munmun moved High Court and sought a stay on the arrest, but later her lawyer withdrew the petition.
A court hearing took place on 25 January. On Saturday, the court dismissed the petition. Activist Rajat Kalsan had previously filed a case against former cricketer Yuvraj Singh and actor Yuvika Chaudhary for using derogatory language about Dalits, following which they had to apply for interim bail.
