SC asks Govinda to apologise for slapping a fan

NEW DELHI: Bollywood actors are considered role models by the society, particularly the Indian youth, and they must behave decently at public places, the Supreme Court on Monday said while disapproving the action of filmstar Govinda slapping a fan in 2008 while shooting for a film in Mumbai.
A bench of Justices T S Thakur and C Gopala Gowda asked Govinda to apologise to his fan Santosh Ray to amicably settle the criminal case lodged against the actor.
The actor had slapped Ray on January 16, 2008 during the shooting of film ‘Money Hai to Honey Hai’ alleging that he was misbehaving on the sets at Filmistan Studio in Goregaon in Mumbai. Ray had filed a criminal complaint against Govinda but the proceedings against the actor were quashed by the Bombay High Court. Ray then approached the Supreme Court which agreed to hear his plea and issued notice to Govinda.
Observing that the Govinda’s behaviour towards his fan was not proper, the Supreme Court said the actor should have kept himself away from such a controversy.
READ: Govinda: I was teary eyed seeing my daughter on screen
“We all enjoy your movies and you are a great actor but we cannot tolerate your action of slapping. You don’t need to do in actual life what you do on screen,” the bench said.
Interestingly, the bench watched the video clips of the incident in open court after Ray’s counsel pleaded the court to go through it. The bench after watching news clippings said the actor even admitted that he had slapped Ray. It also asked Govinda’s counsel Sangeeta Kumar to watch the clipping. “See the video and convey to your client that what he did was not proper,” the bench said.
Kumar, however, justified the slapping saying Ray was misbehaving on the sets and he was kicking the actor’s chair. The bench was not convinced with the submission and said, “Slapping cannot be justified on that ground. He is a public figure and he should not have done this. The complainant might have been an intruder or trespasser on the sets but this is not a way to behave with him.”
The counsel agreed to file remorse application on behalf of the actor but the court clarified that the he needed to apologise to his fan. “You don’t need to pay money for it. Even expressing regret is more than enough. Your prestige would not go down by expressing regret. Have a large heart and apologize,” the bench said.
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