Mumbai: In further trouble for Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, the complainant in the 2012 Taj brawl case has refused to settle the matter mutually out of court.
"I have moved an application before the mediator saying that the complainant (Iqbal Mir Sharma) doesn't want to go for mediation but wants trial to go ahead in the case," public prosecutor Wajid Sheikh told PTI.
The matter will now be referred to a trial court, Sheikh added. The court had in June this year referred the brawl case to a mediator.
Khan and his two friends -- Bilal Amrohi and Shakkel Ladak -- were arrested following a complaint filed by Sharma, an NRI businessman, after an alleged fight at a restaurant inside Taj Hotel here on February 22, 2012.
The three were later released on bail. The court has framed charges against them under Sections 325 (assault) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code. They have pleaded innocence.
According to police, when Sharma protested the raucous chatter of the actor and his friends, Saif allegedly threatened him and subsequently punched Sharma in the nose, fracturing it.
The businessman also accused Saif and his friends of hitting his father-in-law Raman Patel. Saif, on the other hand, said that Sharma made provocative statements and used abusive language against the women accompanying him (including his wife actor Kareena Kapoor and her sister Karishma) which led to the spat.
