A Delhi court imposed a fine of INR20,000 on Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty after he failed to appear before it in a defamation case, according to IANS.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Savitri allowed the actor’s plea seeking exemption from personal appearance, but directed him to pay a fine for his failure to appear in the court.
“A cost of INR20,000 is imposed on Suniel Shetty for his failure to appear in the court. He is directed to appear on the next date without any fail,” the CMM said, emphasising that the court will not consider any request next time, reported the Indian Express.
Earlier in the day, Shetty’s counsel said he would appear before the court after lunch recess, but when the matter was addressed during hearing later in the day, the court was informed that the actor would not be able to appear as he had fallen unwell due to food poisoning.
The court was hearing a defamation case filed in October 2013 by Delhi-based stuntman Puran Chauhan against Shetty.
Chauhan alleged that Shetty had made false statements before the Delhi High Court in an earlier case against him.
He claimed that Shetty had told the high court that in March 2011, his lawyer was beaten by the complainant inside a washroom in the court building.
He said that with the help of his false statement, Shetty had managed to obtain a stay from the high court on summons issued for him to appear in a case, in which the actor was accused of not paying him nearly INR10 million.
The exemption plea was opposed by the advocate appearing for Chauhan.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2014.
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