A lower court in Mumbai will hear a complaint against actor Salman Khan on August 5 for posting the developments of his 2002 hit-and-run court case on his website.
Pune-based social activist Hemant Patil filed a complaint on Saturday, which alleges that these posts are in contempt of court, as the matter is yet sub-judice.
“This is a violation of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971,” Mr Patil told The Asian Age. “First, I tried to file a complaint with the Bandra police station, but senior police inspector Abhay Shastri refused to file the case stating that Salman is a celebrity and an influential person,” he added.
In the website www.salmankhanfiles.com [1], the actor has stated, “I have been advised to put up this website to provide easily accessible factual information about the ongoing status of these [court] cases… it will not contain any information about the merits of any case, nor any comments.”
Since May 2 this year, the website has displayed the bare written orders issued by the Bandra metropolitan court, as well as the June 24 order of Sessions Judge U.B. Hejib, which ordered that Salman should be retried for the graver charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the 2002 hit-and-run case.
The June 24 order was a major setback to the actor, who had been earlier tried by the Bandra metropolitan magistrate court for a lesser charge of rash and negligent act causing death, under section 304 A of IPC.
The charge is punishable with two years’ imprisonment.
“When the case is underway and the matter sub-judice, how can he use Internet to spread information about the proceedings?” Mr Patil said in his complaint, according to his lawyer Wajid Khan.
Mr Patil has also pointed out the case of Anuja Parbu Desai vs State of Goa, in which the court had made certain observations to maintain the dignity of the court.
Links:
[1] http://www.salmankhanfiles.com