Cal HC Quashes FIR Against Actor Paresh Rawal For Speech During Gujarat Polls

Calcutta Excessive Courtroom on Monday quashed an FIR filed in opposition to actor Paresh Rawal by the CPI(M)’s West Bengal unit secretary Mohd Salim who claimed that the Padma Shri awardee had made derogatory feedback in opposition to the Bengali group.

The court docket famous that Rawal, who had moved a petition earlier than it searching for quashing of the FIR, has already given clarifications and tendered an apology over the speech in query. It mentioned the speech was made in Gujarati and among the criticisms which have been made in opposition to the speech are by individuals who might not essentially perceive the language. Contemplating all features of the case, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha quashed the FIR, observing that additional continuation of the proceedings was not fascinating.

Advocate Varun Chugh, counsel for Rawal, mentioned the FIR was registered with the intention to realize political mileage with ulterior motives.

“It’s evident that it’s a politically motivated FIR to wreck the fame of a celeb and public determine like my shopper,” he mentioned. Rawal, a former BJP MP, said within the petition that his speech delivered in Gujarati on November 29, throughout a marketing campaign for the Gujarat meeting elections final yr, was misinterpreted and mistranslated for political vendetta. He maintained that he has given clarifications on his assertion and apologised on December 2, the identical date when Salim filed an FIR at Taltala police station in Kolkata. The actor got here within the eye of the storm when he made a press release linking the worth of fuel cylinders with cooking fish for Bengalis. Rawal, in his petition, mentioned he had later clarified that by “Bengali”, he meant unlawful Bangladeshis and Rohingya immigrants in India and never in any other case. 

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