BATHINDA, Jan. 28 -- Two farmer leaders appeared before a special court in Bathinda on Tuesday to record their statements as prosecution witnesses against BJP MP from Mandi and actor Kangana Ranaut in a defamation case filed by septuagenarian Mahinder Kaur in 2021. Prosecution counsel RS Behniwal said that the president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Krantikari), Surjit Singh Phul, a senior leader of the BKU (Ekta Sidhupur), Jasbir Singh, appeared as witnesses, whereas Ranaut appeared virtually. Kaur, a resident of Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Bathinda district, has alleged that Ranaut defamed her in a post on the social media platform X by wrongly identifying her as a Shaheen Bagh protester, Bilkis Bano, and suggested that such women could be hired to protest for Rs.100. During the last hearing, the prosecution had moved an application to make Ranaut surrender her passport before the court. Judicial magistrate first class (JMIC) Inderjeet Singh will hear the case on February 10, as Ranaut's counsel submitted an argument against surrendering her passport. The special court, designated to handle cases against the MPs and MLAs, had exempted Ranaut from personal appearance....