Film stars’ getting into a public brawl is nothing new. There have been many instances of the same. One may recall the infamous slapping incident that had taken place in the year 2008, wherein actor Govinda had publicly slapped a fan on the sets of Money Hai Toh Honey Hai. When asked the reason, Govinda had then replied that the reason for him to slap the guy was because he was getting too close to the girls (on the sets) and that he took a stand against it (by slapping him).
And in a recent development, the Supreme Court, on Monday, asked Govinda to apologise to the fan, he had slapped. The court said the actor will otherwise face prosecution for criminal intimidation and assault that may land him in jail for two years. Govinda, who sounded least perturbed, didn’t want to say much about the Supreme Court advising him to settle the dispute and apologise to the ‘victim’. “At this point of time, I have nothing to comment. It's a technical matter. It’s a court issue, let the court orders come,” said Govinda, in an exclusive chat with Pinkvilla. “I will then agree with whatever court tells me,” Govinda further added.
The ‘victim’ Santosh Rai, had lodged a complaint accusing the actor of 'slapping and intimidating' him about seven years back. The Court watched the video clip of the incident on a mobile phone and suggested that the actor apologise to Rai. The court’s of the opinion that a film star should not indulge in 'fighting in a public place.'"The actor does not need to do in real life what he does in reel life," it added. "You are a big hero, show your big heart," a bench headed by Justice T S Thakur said, while urging the actor settle the dispute with Rai. "We enjoy your films, but cannot tolerate you slapping somebody," it said and fixed February 9 as the next date of hearing of Rai's appeal.
Govinda had approached the High Court seeking quashing of the proceedings initiated against him by the metropolitan magistrate's court. "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," the High Court had said.