With producer-actor Aamir Khan avoiding personal appearance here in the chinkara case even after a dozen notices to him in the past one year, officials of the Forest Department have sought permission from the department’s head office in Gandhinagar to move court against the actor. “After we came to know that a deer, locally known as chinkara, was used in the film Lagaan, we sent notices to several persons, including Khan, to appear before a departmental inquiry panel. But Khan, the main accused, hasn’t come here despite several notices. We want to file a criminal case against him in a court for which we have sought permission from our headquarters,” said R L Meena, Conservator of Forest, Kutch Circle. According to official records, five people connected with the production of Lagaan were summoned to appear before the panel. They included director Ashutosh Gowarikar, Khan’s former wife and executive producer Reena Datta, cameraman Anil Mehta and another executive producer Srinivas Rao. Of these only Srinivas and Mehta came here for personal appearance. While Reena was exempted from personal appearance as she provided all the information and sought exemption on the ground of her being a single mother after her divorce from Khan, Gowarikar said he was busy shooting. But Khan has always said he is busy. “What we want is that Khan should prove that the chinkara scene in the film was not real, but a computer created one. It was superimposed on the real scene later by a special effect company. Khan wants us to come to Mumbai to see this trick scene,” he said, adding that they could not go to Mumbai for verification as “it is for the accused to prove it”.
