The following is a hilarious story of a legal proceeding initiated against one of the greatest ruling super heroes of our times on a question as ancient as the one which arose in the second century with Clement of Alexandria ( whether Apostle Peter and Cephas of Antioch were the same person?)
The Exposition
There is this Lady, who is a resident of Hipparga (Kopdeo), tq. Ahmedpur, dist. Latur. and a mother of five daughters by name Taherabi, Wahedbi, Laila, Madina and Hussainbi and two sons by name Dulekhan and Alasab. All daughters of the lady and eldest son Dulekhan are married.
However, the protagonist of the present story is her youngest son Alasab, who was born to her on 12-6-1965 at Hipparga (Kopdeo). Alasab was admitted in school at Hipparga (Kopdeo), but Alasab was not really keen on studies. He dropped out of school in the year 1983. Alasab was in the third standard when he left school.
Since the Lady had no source of income she moved to Bombay alongwith her children in search of livelihood and managed to get work at a construction site at Vashi. Since Asalab had no school to attend, he used to wander here and there and frequented the front stalls to watch movies. One fine day in the year 1984, Alasab disappeared without informing her mother and ostensibly went alongwith a Circus which had performed at Bandra at that time. Despite searching, Alasab could not be traced. Ultimately, the Lady returned to Hipparga (Kopdeo).
The Rising Action
Mohammed, son of Wadhebi (one of the married daughters of the Lady mentioned above) watched the movie "Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman" at a theatre in Ahmedpur and immediately identified Alasab. He rushed to his mother Wahedbi and informed her that he has recognized his maternal uncle Alasab. Wahedbi also went to watch the movie "Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman" to ascertain the truth behind her son’s claims and she too immediately identified Alasab. Wahedbi and her son Mohammed then went to Hipparga (Kopdeo) and informed the Lady that Alasab has been traced.They told the Lady that Alasab has changed his name to Shah Rukh Khan and has become a film star. Thereafter all of them arrived at King Khan’s the then residence in Bombay and requested SRK to acknowledge the Lady and maintain her. They had also contacted well known film stars like Dilip Kumar, Big B and Rekha and tried to collect information from them with regard to antecedents of SRK(then ‘Raju’ who according to the Lady, was pretending to be the ‘Gentleman’ ).
The Climax
The Lady startled SRK by initiating action for maintenance, under section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr. P.C) in the Court of Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Ahmedpur, dist. Latur. The Lady proclaimed herself as mother of SRK and alleged in her application for maintenance that even though SRK recognized her and acknowledged her as his mother, he refused to maintain her. She claimed monthly allowance at the rate of Rs. 500/- (Rupees five hundred only) for her maintenance.
Following Cr. P.C. by the book, the Magistrate issued summons to SRK and called him to appear in the Court. SRK must have received a serious jolt when he received the summons, but however, he sought legal advice and quickly filed a petition under section 482 of the Cr.P.C. for quashing the proceedings initiated by the Lady.
SRK presented his case, proof of his parentage, death certificates of his parents, certificates of schooling, awards won and letters and certificates establishing his schooling and college and more importantly, several proofs of his birth, passport and other such legally accepted documents to basically establish the fact that he was Shah Rukh Khan, a permanent resident of Delhi(at that relevant point of time) and son of Late Mir Taj Mohammed Late Fatima Latif. SRK went on to state that after completion of his post graduation in Arts, he shifted to Bombay to try his luck in Bollywood and later struck gold. He obviously denied that the Lady is his mother and that the application filed by her was a false, frivolous and vexatious proceeding for maintenance against him to extract money and accordingly sought quashing of the proceedings as against him.
The classic evidence
The Lady produced the Birth Certificate and school leaving certificate of Alasab. The certificate, issued by She Deputy Sarpanch of village Hipparga (Kopdeo) and copy of the photograph of Alasab, with his brother, an important piece of evidence. Besides these documentary evidence, she filed her own affidavit and produced affidavits of her daughter, her son-in-law and affidavits of other witnesses.
Most importantly, the classic piece of evidence.
She submitted a certificate issued by the Deputy Sarpanch of village Hipparga (Kopdeo) certifying that film star Shah Rukh Khan was a permanent resident of village Hipparga (Kopdeo). The Deputy Sarpanch further certified that SRK had left village about few years back and was residing with her mother in Bombay and thereafter, disappeared and later acquired tremendous publicity and fame as film star, and then conveniently declined to identify his mother, sisters and brother. The certificate also stated that whatever information was given therein was correct.
The Falling Action
This Court directed to hold the enquiry as to how and on what basis the Deputy Sarpanch of village Hipparga (Kopdeo) has issued such kind of certificate. The enquiry papers were made available for the Dy. Sarpanch’s perusal. The Deputy Sarpanch, in one breath denied to have issued such kind of certificate and in the next breath, he stated that someone had already brought the certificate and he had simply attested his signature. The High Court proposed to issue a Notice to the Deputy Sarpanch, as to why criminal prosecution should not be launched against him. The findings which led to the quashing of the proceedings:
· The Lady was a self-proclaimed mother.
· The mother contemplated under section 125(1)(d) of the Cr.P.C. does not include self-proclaimed mother.
· The Lady was ill advised.
· She had fallen prey to the busy brains of her relatives.
· An application under section 125 of Cr.P.C. is not a complaint.
· SRK could not have been equated with an accused.(significantly an “accused” is not defined in the Cr.P.C )
· Ultimately, the order that would be passed in a 125 Cr.P.C. proceeding is not an order of conviction.
· The Lady is a stranger to SRK.
The Dénouement
Interestingly, the Court also observed that “there is no specific provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure to combat such kind of unforseen circumstance. Nothing is provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure to meet or tackle such kind of false, frivolous and vexatious litigation. It cannot be, therefore, said that the present petitioner is required to prove the correctness of his claim in the trial Court, on the basis of the evidence and seek justice in that regard. In order to combat such false and frivolous litigation, it is required to truncate the very proceeding at the threshold to serve the ends of justice. The ends of justice are in jeopardy. The Court cannot shut the eyes, fold the hands and remain silent onlooker. Inherent powers, no doubt are required to be used sparingly, carefully and cautiously, but if there is an instance of abuse of process of law, with an intention to harass a citizen, it is legitimate on the part of this Court to snip the very proceeding at its commencement to serve the ends of justice.”
On the insinuation that the Court was tilting towards the filmstar, the Court observed that “sympathy was not being not shown to a film star…inherent powers were being invoked to scrap the false, frivolous and vexatious proceeding not because the petitioner is a film star but he is a star victim of false, frivolous and vexatious proceeding.