Keywords: Quashing of FIR
Kamal R. Khan, a renowned film actor and critic, has approached the Bombay High Court to seek the quashing of the First Information Report (FIR) registered against him for providing a critical review of the Hindi movie “Laxmii.”
A division bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice RN Laddha, has taken up the case and has directed the state government to respond to Khan’s plea.
Khan was booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 294 (obscene acts and songs), 500 (defamation), 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory), and 505 (statements conducive to public mischief). The FIR against him was lodged in 2020.
In his plea filed with the court, Khan contended that the complaint leading to the FIR was filed by one Rahul Kanan, who allegedly had affiliations with the political party Shiv Sena. Khan argued that the FIR was lodged against him solely because he had contested elections against Kanan.
“The Petitioner states that, however, even if the entire FIR is taken as it is, the same does not disclose any offense committed by the Petitioner. The Petitioner states that the said FIR is purely an abuse of the process of law in all respects. The Petitioner states that possibly, only because the Petitioner had contested the elections against the candidate of the said political party having necessary arrangements with another political party, it seems that the Petitioner has been booked into the said FIR,” the plea states.
In his plea seeking the quashing of the FIR, Kamal R. Khan emphasized that he had merely expressed his views as a journalist and critic regarding the movie “Laxmii.” He further stated that he was not aware of any chargesheet being filed in connection with the FIR lodged against him.
The petition also highlighted that apart from Khan, various newspapers publish reviews given by experts, indicating that film critique is a common practice in the industry.
“The Petitioner in his routine course of his profession and as a journalist has been giving his reviews in respect of various films and film personalities, and as such, no fault could be found in respect thereof. The Petitioner states that otherwise also, even if any newspaper is taken, every newspaper carries such reviews being given by the experts,” the plea reads.
The matter will now be heard in due course, and the court will consider the response from the state government before making a decision on the quashing of the FIR against Kamal R. Khan.[1]
Written by- Jaydeep Ramani, College name – Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Semester- 7 an intern under Legal Vidhiya
[1] https://www.latestlaws.com/high-courts/kamal-r-khan-challenges-fir-against-him-for-critical-review-of-film-laxmii-in-bombay-high-court-202644/
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