NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the decision of the Gujarat high court quashing a criminal case filed against actor Shah Rukh Khan and others, who were booked for causing a stampede in 2017 at the Vadodara railway station while promoting his film. A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar dismissed the appeal filed by an original complainant Jitendra Madhubhai Solanki alias Pappu, who had challenged the decision of the HC dated April 27, 2022. The bench said it is not inclined to interfere with the order of the high court.
Senior advocate Vijay Kumar, appearing for Solanki, said the HC had erred in its finding and quashed the case against the respondent (Shah Rukh Khan and others). Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, who represented Khan along with advocate Ruby Singh Ahuja, and advocate Sandeep Kapur contended the HC had rightly quashed the case and passed a detailed verdict after dealing with all aspects.
The HC had said in its order: “Insofar as offences under the Indian Penal Code are concerned,…the allegations made in the complaint, even if they are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety, in the considered opinion of this court do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against petitioner (Shah Rukh Khan).”
It had said the act on part of the actor, during the promotion of his film ‘Raees‘ could not be termed to be so grossly negligent or reckless, neither could an act on part of Khan be treated as the proximate and efficient cause of the unruly incidents at the railway station.
Shah Rukh Khan, the lead actor in the movie, had undertaken a train journey from Mumbai to New Delhi as part of its promotion. It was alleged that a stampede-like situation arose when the train stopped at Vadodara railway station, where some people received injuries and a few became unconscious.
Senior advocate Vijay Kumar, appearing for Solanki, said the HC had erred in its finding and quashed the case against the respondent (Shah Rukh Khan and others). Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, who represented Khan along with advocate Ruby Singh Ahuja, and advocate Sandeep Kapur contended the HC had rightly quashed the case and passed a detailed verdict after dealing with all aspects.
The HC had said in its order: “Insofar as offences under the Indian Penal Code are concerned,…the allegations made in the complaint, even if they are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety, in the considered opinion of this court do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against petitioner (Shah Rukh Khan).”
It had said the act on part of the actor, during the promotion of his film ‘Raees‘ could not be termed to be so grossly negligent or reckless, neither could an act on part of Khan be treated as the proximate and efficient cause of the unruly incidents at the railway station.
Shah Rukh Khan, the lead actor in the movie, had undertaken a train journey from Mumbai to New Delhi as part of its promotion. It was alleged that a stampede-like situation arose when the train stopped at Vadodara railway station, where some people received injuries and a few became unconscious.
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