New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Gujarat High Court’s decision to quash a criminal case filed against Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, filed for allegedly causing a stampede in 2017, while promoting his film “Raees”, at the Vadodara Railway Station.
A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and C.T. Ravikumar dismissed the appeal filed by the original complainant against the Gujarat High Court’s April 2022 judgment.
The complainant, Jitendra Madhubhai Solanki had filed a private complaint against Shah Rukh Khan before the judicial magistrate, first class, Vadodara, alleging that his presence at the Vadodara Railway Station coupled with him throwing T-shirts and smiley balls at the crowd assembled at the station led to the stampede.
After the local court in Vadodara issued summons, asking him to remain present, Shah Rukh Khan moved the high court against the summons and for quashing the complaint.
After the high court on April 27, 2022, quashed the complaint filed against the actor, holding that it has been filed by a person who has no direct connection with the incident in question, Solanki filed a special leave petition challenging the order. The top court dismissed it and has finally afforded a quietus to the said issue.
The petitioner was represented by senior advocate Vijay Kumar, and Khan was represented by senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, briefed by a team from Karanjawala & Co advocates led by Ruby Singh Ahuja.
In January 2017, the actor and the production team were traveling from Mumbai to Delhi by train to promote the film. When the train reached Vadodara, a huge crowd gathered at the railway station.