Saif Ali Khan Charged With Assaulting South African Businessman

[timmy]

Two years after actor Saif Ali Khan was briefly arrested for allegedly assaulting a South African businessman, charges have now been framed against him in the case. Saif Ali Khan has been charged under Section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC for assaulting Iqbal Sharma in 2012.

The hearing in the case against Khan will begin from April 30. Khan was arrested in February 2012 for assaulting Sharma, who was a guest at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, following which a case of assault was registered against him on the basis of a complaint filed by a Sharma who accused him and his aides of breaking his nose after a scuffle inside the Taj Hotel here.

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Khan was said to be accompanied by his girlfriend and actress Kareena Kapoor and actresses Malaika Arora Khan and Amrita Arora at the time of the incident. The victim, Iqbal Sharma, had approached the police claiming that he was attacked by Khan and his friends, during which, he was punched by the actor, senior police inspector of Colaba police station Vinod Sawant said. He said the 41-year-old actor is likely to be arrested.

Sharma is a South African national of Indian origin and is the deputy director-general of Trade and Investment in South Africa.

The victim claimed that he was having dinner with his family members at the Wasabi restaurant in the Taj Hotel in Colaba last night, while the actor and his friends were sitting at the next table, police said.

Sharma stated that he had objected to the din created by Saif and his friends. When he pointed it out to them, the actor and his friends got enraged, and following a heated argument, attacked him. Khan allegedly told him to go to a library if he wanted peace and quiet. Sharma said Saif and his two associates allegedly rained blows upon him fracturing his nose.