Court refers Saif Ali Khan's case for mediation
A Mumbai court has referred Saif Ali Khan's brawl case which involved Khan, his two friends and a NRI businessman and his father-in-law for mediation. The decision to refer to mediation was taken with the consent of both the parties. Saif complied with the order and finally appeared before the court to depose for the case after being warned by the official authorities earlier.
A scuffle took place at Wasabi, a restaurant in Taj Hotel between Saif and NRI Iqbal Sharma where both of them were dining on opposite tables. Sharma had claimed that Khan had become angry, broken his nose and assaulted his father-in-law when Sharma protested against Saif and his party's raucous chatter. Saif was arrested but was released on bail after 90 mins of interrogation.
A Mumbai court framed charges against Saif Ali Khan and his two friends, Shakeel Ladak and Bilaal Amrohi under section 325 (assault) and section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code for assaulting the South African NRI businessman in 2012. The trio pleaded innocence when the court read the charges to them. Further proceedings against the trio were expected.
The 2012 spat with the NRI businessman is not Saif's first. The actor has been involved in spats 5 times earlier as well. In one of the incidents, his ex-wife Amrita Singh was also involved.
Mumbai police had submitted CCTV footage of the alleged assault of NRI businessman Iqbal Sharma by Saif Ali Khan at the Taj Hotel in 2012 in the court. They also submitted the clothes that the actor had worn that day. Public Prosecutor Wajid Sheikh confirmed the submission of these things which would be used to provide further evidence in the court against Saif.
A Mumbai court declared that its pre-trial formalities were complete and that they had given a copy of the CCTV footage of the incident to the accused after their lawyers had filed an application. The trials were likely to begin in November with the first witness deposing in the court in the assault case.
Saif Ali Khan failed to present himself before the court on 19 March when the first witness - the complainant was to depose. Following this, the court gave him a warning. The court said that if the actor fails to be present during the next hearing on 18 June, a warrant would be issued against him.
