Unarmed & dangerous, scrap dealer sees Remo & Co in the dock

So much so that the residents of Dehu Road, as well as the police, who had branded Shaikh a bekar (unemployed) till a few days ago, despite his being a scrap dealer, now call him a social worker.

Even Shaikh’s counsel, S R Goyal, who was initially ridiculed by his fraternity for appearing in what they thought was a “good-for-nothing case” has become a crusader for a social cause.

“Initially, nobody gave a serious thoughtto our suit. In fact all our friends warned us against suing the bigwigs. But now, on realising the importance of our action, the same people have started respecting us,” Goyal and Shaikh told The The Indian Express last week.

“I am happy about the response to the suit. In fact now I am planning to make Akshay Kumar, the hero of the film on whom the song is picturised, an accused. This will help in curbing the sale of the video cassettes of the film,” said Goyal. (And on April 29, he did just that. Goyal moved an application saying that Akshay Kumar and Indus Cassettes Industries Ltd should also be made respondents in the case.)

Both Goyal and Shaikh claim that they decided to sue the Super Cassettes Industries Ltd, its manager, singer Remo Fernandes, musicians Dilip Sen and Sameer Sen as well as lyricist Anand Bakshi because they felt the song cannot be heard in public. However, each one had a different motivation.

“I heard the song for the first time while doing my aerobics workout and found theobscene words in it nauseating. All my friends and even the coach laughed as I replayed the cassette several times and expressed my irritation about the vulgarity. Later, I watched the movie and found out that the obscenity was hurled at a policeman in uniform which was even more irritating. So I discussed the matter with Goyal and we decided to file the case,” Shaikh recalled.

“I gauged the gravity of the situation when I heard my three-and-a-half year old daughter singing the obscene song within three days after Shaikh approached me. Immediately, I contacted Shaikh and we decided to go ahead and file the suit,” Goyal said.

Assistant Police Inspector Dinkar Pawar from Dehu Road police station said his staff has seized six audio cassettes of the movie from two shops in Dehu Road ever since the court issued search warrant authorising the police to seize the cassettes. “Now the audio cassettes of the film are not being sold anywhere in Dehu Road,” he added.

True, none of the two major electronicshops from Dehu Road display the cassettes of the Hindi film in the windows. However, one of the shop owners offered to provide a cassette from the black market, quoting a price of Rs 50.

The complaint was filed as per the provisions of section 292 of the Indian Penal Code before Judicial Magistrate First Class (Wadgaon Maval court) A M Kshatriya on January 13, 1998.

On January 15, Shaikh verified the facts stated in his petition and it was admitted in the court on January 29 after the song in question was played in the courtroom.

On the same day, the JMFC issued process against the six accused and summons were issued, directing the accused to produce themselves before the court on March 3. On February 11, Goyal moved an application requesting the court to direct the police to seize the audio cassettes of the film.

Acting on the application, the court ordered the Dehu Road Police to seize the audio cassettes of the film on April 18. Subsequently, on February 20, the court issued warrants authorisingthe police to carry out searches and to seize the cassettes.

None of the accused produced themselves before the court till April 3. However, a local lawyer, Rajesh C Chopda, appeared as the defence counsel on April 3 and requested that the accused be exempted for the day as they were out of Mumbai.

On the same day, Goyal moved a separate application requesting the court to issue non-bailable warrants against the accused. Acting on the application, the court has issued warrants against the accused. The case will be heard next on May 28.