Charges framed against Saif in Taj assault case

 More than two years after actor Saif Ali Khan and his friends assaulted a NRI businessman at the Wasabi restaurant in Taj Mahal Hotel, a Mumbai court on Thursday framed charges against him and his two friends.

Khan and friends, Bilal Amrohi and Shakeel Ladakh, were charged under section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code.

The trio were presented before the magistrate at the Esplanade Court on Thursday. They pleaded not guilty to the charges, setting the stage for their trial. The court will hear the matter on April 30.

The case dates back to February 22, 2012, when Khan was arrested on an assault complaint by NRI businessman Iqbal Sharma at the Colaba police station. 

In the complaint, the South Africa-based businessman alleged that he and his father-in-law Raman Patel were dining at the restaurant when the actor and his friends assaulted him after he asked them to keep their voices down.

Sharma, who worked as the deputy director-general of trade and investment in South Africa, said the actor punched him in the nose leading to a fracture, and hit his father-in-law.

43-year-old Khan and friends were accompanied by wife Kareena Kapoor, sister-in-law Karishma Kapoor, Malaika Arora Khan and Amrita Arora when the brawl broke out.

Khan was arrested and let off on a bail of Rs 15,000. He maintained that Sharma made provocative statements and used abusive language against the women accompanying him, leading to his reaction.