Gujarat High Court quashes 2017 case against Shah Rukh Khan for allegedly causing stampede while promoting Raees

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday quashed a criminal case filed against Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan for allegedly causing a stampede at the Vadodara Railway Station while promoting his film Raees in 2017 [Shah Rukh Khan v. State of Gujarat]..Justice Nikhil S Kariel found that the acts of the veteran Bollywood star were not extremely high in negligence or recklessness, nor were they the proximate or efficient cause of the alleged incident.“In the considered opinion of this Court none of the said act could be termed as having any element of mens rea, which is an essential element to hold negligence as being an offence.”.The case arose when Khan was promoting his film by travelling by train from Mumbai to Delhi. When the train stopped at the Vadodara Railway Station, a huge crowd had gathered.Khan threw ‘smiley balls’ and ‘t- shirts’ in the crowd and in trying to catch catch those, there was a scuffle. On account of this, a stampede ensued due to which some persons were injured, some became unconscious and one person died.A complaint was registered for the offences of causing death by negligence, mischief, and act endangering life or personal safety of others as well as Sections 145 (drunkenness or nuisance) and 147 (trespass) of the Railways Act.The Investigating Officer (IO), thereafter, conducted an inquiry and submitted a report to the magistrate, who issued summons to the actor..Khan then moved the High Court against the complaint and the summons. Pertinently, the legal heirs of the person who had allegedly died on account of the chaos at the station sought to be impleaded as respondents.It was argued on behalf of Khan that there were multiple causes for the incident and none of his acts could be termed as the “proximate cause” for the chaos at the station.It was emphasised that there was no evidence against him, and even according to the IO’s report, the death of one person was not caused on account of any rash or negligence on the part of the actor..The Public Prosecutor in fact supported the contentions of Khan, stating that no material could be found in the report to conclude that any act of his endangered human life or public safety.Advocate for the complainant vehemently opposed the plea..The High Court at the outset took note of the investigation report that showed that as per the doctor’s opinion, the death that took place was on account of a cardiac arrest. It was also noted that the family of the deceased had refused a post-mortem.Examining the acts of Khan, Justice Kariel noted that none of them were found as being highly reckless or negligent on his part. Accordingly, it was concluded that Khan was able to make out a case for quashing of the complaint and summons..Senior Advocate Mihir Thakore, Advocates Salil M Thakore and Dhiren Durante, instructed by Lexicon Law Partners, Mumbai appeared for Shah Rukh Khan.The respondents were represented by Advocate Ramanandan Singh and Public Prosecutor Mitesh Amin..[Read Judgment]