SHAH RUKH KHAN Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A dialogue spoken in a courtroom scene of the movie Ram Jaane has, ironically, brought its protagonist, Shah Rukh Khan, a popular Bollywood thespian, as a Petitioner to this Court. The Petitioner has challenged the order, dated 28-1- 1998, passed by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate No. 1, Kota, whereby the learned Magistrate had rejected the Petitioner's application, filed under Section 245 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code ('the Code', for short), for discharge from the criminal offences allegedly committed by him.

(2.) IN a nutshell, the facts of the case are that, in 1996, under the direction of Mr. Rajiv Mehra, a Hindi film Ram Jaane was released for public viewing after due certification by the Central Board of Certification ('the Board', for short ). The Petitioner played the role of the protagonist in the film. IN the later part of the film, the hero is tried for triple murders. IN the courtroom scene, the defense lawyer gets up to defend the hero who is, however, bent upon confessing his crime. He, therefore, questions the conduct of the lawyer and says: *** (This lawyer well knows that I have killed the three persons, yet he tries to save me. Why? For the sake of money, no? For the sake of money, he sells his morals. He sells the laws. By selling the laws, you people have turned life into a misery.) (English translation of the Hindi dialogue)

(3.) THIRDLY, Section 199 of the Code deals with prosecution for defamation. It imposes a bar on the power of the court to take cognizance except upon a complaint made by some person aggrieved by the offence. Section 199 (6) permits the person, against whom the offence is alleged to have been committed, to make a complaint in respect of that offence. But, the complainant has to show that he was the target of defamation. According to the learned counsel, such a complaint from a member of an indefinite class of persons is nonmaintainable. In order to buttress his contention, the learned counsel has relied upon the case of G. Narasimhan & Ors vs. T. vs. Chokkappa (1972) 2 Supreme Court Cases 680.