30th March 2023, Mumbai: Actor Salman Khan and his bodyguard Nawaz Shaikh were cleared of allegations of misbehaviour made by a journalist in 2019, as the Bombay High Court quashed the complaint on Thursday. Justice Bharati Dangre, who presided over the case, allowed the applications filed by Khan and Shaikh, and dismissed the process issued to them by a lower court last year. In March 2022, the magistrate’s court had ordered Khan and Shaikh to appear before it on April 5, but the Bombay HC’s decision has overturned that directive.
Journalist Ashok Pandey had filed a complaint against Salman Khan and his bodyguard Nawaz Shaikh, accusing them of threatening and assaulting him. Khan had filed a petition challenging the summons issued to him by a lower court, which was later stayed by the Bombay HC in April 2022. Shaikh also filed a petition challenging the summons, and that too was stayed by the HC. The latest order from the HC has quashed the complaint against both Khan and Shaikh, putting an end to the legal proceedings in this case.
According to the complaint filed by Ashok Pandey, he was allegedly abused and physically assaulted by Salman Khan and Nawaz Shaikh in April 2019 while filming the actor while he was cycling on the road. Pandey had filed a private complaint seeking action against Khan, but the actor filed a petition challenging the complaint. Khan had argued that there were discrepancies and inconsistencies in Pandey’s complaint, and that he had not made any remarks to Pandey during the incident in question.
Based on a police report submitted in the matter, Metropolitan Magistrate R R Khan had issued proceedings against Khan and Shaikh. The report had stated that the accused persons had allegedly committed offences under Sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
In his complaint, Ashok Pandey had claimed that Salman Khan had snatched his mobile phone while cycling on a Mumbai street, when some media persons began taking photos of the actor. Pandey alleged that the actor then got into an argument with him and threatened him. The issuance of a process by the Metropolitan Magistrate marks the start of criminal proceedings, based on a complaint lodged by an individual. The magistrate court issues the process only if it finds some substance in the allegations made in the complaint. Once the process is issued, the accused persons are required to appear before the court.