2012 hotel brawl case: Malaika Arora appears before court, dropped as witness

The court cancelled the bailable warrant issued against the actor in April.

The case dates back to an incident in 2012, where Arora, actor Saif Ali Khan, his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan, Arora’s sister Amrita and others were having dinner at a five-star restaurant in South Mumbai.

A man, who was at the restaurant, got into a scuffle after an argument with them.

An FIR was lodged at Colaba police station against Khan, Amrita’s husband Shakil Ladakh, and their friend Bilal Amrohi on the complaint of Iqbal Mir Sharma, a South African national and NRI.
The complainant had alleged that Khan had punched his nose, causing a fracture. The trial in the case began last year.

So far three witnesses have been examined, including Amrita. Arora was summoned to depose in March and a bailable warrant was issued against her in April for not appearing despite summons.
On April 30, the court had again warned Arora that it would issue a non-bailable warrant if she continues to remain absent.

The bailable warrant of Rs 5,000 issued by the court was cancelled on Wednesday after she remained present before the court.

The prosecution also sought that summons be issued to the complainant through email, as he is yet to depose too.

Amrita had deposed in the case as prosecution witness number 3 on March 29. Amrita had said that she, along with her friends, visited the five-star hotel in South Mumbai for dinner on February 21, 2012, and their group were given a separate enclosure.

She told the court that a man barged into their enclosure and told them to shut up and keep quiet in a loud, aggressive voice. She said Khan had stood up and apologised to the man for having caused any nuisance to him and they went back to their dinner.

Later, when Khan went to the washroom, they heard some noise and recognised Khan’s voice. She said they saw the man who entered their enclosure punching and hitting Khan and there was a scuffle, which they rushed and stopped.

While the prosecution sought to declare her hostile, the court said that she had deposed as per her statement recorded by the police.