Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar submitted in a court here on Friday that actor Kangana Ranaut's petition seeking transfer of the criminal defamation case filed by him against her was "devoid of any merits" and aimed at delaying the proceedings.

Ranaut had last month filed the petition before the chief metropolitan magistrate seeking transfer of hearing into the complaint to another court, saying she had "lost faith" in the magistrate's court as it indirectly "threatened" her of issuing a warrant if she failed to appear before it in a bailable offence.