Govinda gets relief in slapgate case

Remember the ugly incident in 2008 where Govinda was caught on camera slapping a man for misbehavior on the sets of Ganesh Acharya’s Money Hai Toh Honey Hai? The man who was later identified as Santosh Rai filed a complaint against the actor under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach) and 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. The complaint was filed on February 2, 2009 almost a year after the incident. Taking a final call on the case, the Bombay High Court quashed all charges leveled against Govinda, yesterday. The court in its wisdom noted that there is no case of criminal intimidation against Govinda and also the sections under which the case of assault was registered cannot be taken cognizance of after a year. Justice Tahaliyani who delivered the judgment said, “"The magistrate could not have taken cognizance of offences committed under section 323 and 504 as the complaint was filed a year after the incident allegedly occurred. Regarding section 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) the court should have first determined if there is prima facie material to prove it. No doubt some incident had occurred. However, there is no material to prove criminal intimidation. It appears that the complainant was instigated to file the complaint after a year.” It was Govinda who had earlier approached the High Court seeking to quash the proceedings initiated against him by the magistrate court. Meanwhile Santosh didn’t look too pleased with the order and was quoted telling reporters that the case was registered with Goregaon police station but no action was initiated against Govinda. “No action was taken by police against Govinda for almost a year. And that is why I had to approach court. However it seems there is no justice for a common man. Anyone can come and slap a common man and will never get justice," Santosh said. Santosh now plans to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.