In a relief to actor Salman Khan, the Bombay High Court has quashed a private complaint filed by an activist alleging contempt of court against him. The court also slapped a fine of Rs. 2,000 on the complainant for frivolous complaint.
The complaint was pertaining to a website started by Mr. Khan for updating the court proceedings regarding the cases related to him. The complainant had alleged that by putting the court proceedings on the website, the actor was committing contempt of court. The actor had argued that his sole intention was accurate reporting regarding the cases pertaining to him.
The website >www.salmankhanfiles.com states, “Certain Court cases are filed against me. There is widespread media reporting of these cases. The reports are sometimes inaccurate and misleading, and cause damage to my reputation, both professional and personal. I have been advised to put up this website to provide easily accessible factual information about the ongoing status of these cases. This website will be updated by my advocates from time to time. It will not contain any information about the merits of any case, nor any comments. I encourage all those who are interested in knowing about these cases, particularly the media to verify facts available on this website. I have the greatest respect for the law, the judiciary and the legal process. Nothing on this website is intended to influence anyone, the sole purpose being to present the facts, and status of the cases I am involved in.”
Justice Sadhana Jadhav, while passing the order earlier this week, observed that the website and its contents did not interfere with the course of administration of justice.
She stated in her order, “The Contempt of Courts Act prohibits publication in any manner of any matter or the doing of any other act which could have the effect of prejudicing or interfering or tending to interfere with the due course of any judicial proceedings. The Court is satisfied that there was no such intention on the part of the petitioner. The sole purpose being that no prejudice or bias is created in the mind of the Court that may prevent it to proceed with the proceedings in an atmosphere completely free from bias and prejudice. The general public is not misled by the petitioner. All that is attempted to be done is a fair and accurate reporting of the proceedings of Courts of law.”
The court further asked the private complainant why costs should not be imposed on him for initiating frivolous proceedings. When he pleaded that he initiated the complaint for public cause, the court observed that it was necessary to deter him from initiating such complaints. Thus, a fine of Rs. 2,000 was slapped on him.
