Saif Ali Khan 2012 assault case: Trial likely to begin from next month

Nearly 11 years after Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan assaulted an NRI businessman at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel off the Gateway of India in Mumbai, the trial of the case is expected to begin on June 15.

On the intervening night of February 21-22, 2012, Khan and his friends hit NRI businessman Iqbal Mir Sharma on his nose – following which he lodged a complaint with the nearby Colaba police station.

Khan was arrested in the case and granted bail.

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According to the complaint by Sharma, the actor and his two friends, Bilal Amrohi and Shakeel Ladak had assaulted Sharma at Wasabi restaurant in Taj Hotel, when he protested against the noise being made by the actor and his friends. He had also accused Saif and his friends of hitting his father-in-law Raman Patel.

On the other hand, Khan had told the police that Sharma made provocative statements and used abusive language against the women accompanying him.

Khan, among others, was accompanied by his wife Kareena Kapoor, her sister Karisma Kapoor, actors Malaika Arora Khan and Amrita Arora.

The police filed the charge sheet on December 21, 2012 - and Khan and his friends had been charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 34 (common intention).

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of the Esplanade court in Mumbai, before whom the trial would be conducted, issued summons to two witnesses to appear and record their statements in the court.