Bollywood actor Salman Khan on Thursday failed to turn up before the Maharashtra State Commission for Women (MSCW) for the second time for a scheduled hearing over his “felt like a raped woman” remark, citing summons issued by the National Commission for Women (NCW) on the issue and citing “potential” double jeopardy as the reason. The MSCW rejected the actor’s stand and directed him to appear before it on July 14.
In a virtual repeat of what happened at the previous hearing on June 29, Salman — who was to have come along with his lawyer — skipped the hearing scheduled to take place at 4.30 pm on Thursday at the MSCW’s Bandra office. Instead, he sent off a legal reply to the MSCW, citing reasons for his not wanting to appear before the Commission.
“Despite our waiting for him, neither the actor nor his lawyer turned up for the hearing. like he did last time, the actor sent us a letter citing reasons for his not wanting to appear before our commission. We are not at all satisfied with his reply for reasons which we have already explained to him. We have issued the fresh summons and asked the actor before the Commission at 4.30 pm on July 14,” MSCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar told The Pioneer in the evening.
Incidentally, 50-year-old Salman has so far not apologised for his controversial comment — made last month during an interview given to a website as part of the promotion of his film Sultan — that the shooting of wrestling bouts in the film was so gruelling that he felt like a “raped woman” while he would walk out of the ring after the shoot.
In his reply sent on Thursday to the second summons served on him by the MSCW on June 29, Salman alluded to the summons issued to him by the NCW to appear before it on July 8 (Friday) and cited “potential” double jeopardy, a procedural defence that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges in the same case and saying that the matter relating to his controversial comment was before the National Commission for Women (NCW) that the matter cannot be taken up by the State Commission. He also said that his appearance before both the MSCW and NCW would be a “duplication” of matters.
Rejecting the stand by the actor, the MSCW chairperson said that the Commission had “concurrent powers” to invoke Section 10 (2) of Maharashtra State Commission for Women Act, 1993 under which it has powers to summon a person from any part of the State and examine him on oath or take recourse to any other sections to initiate proceedings against the person who has violated the provisions of this Act.
“We have been vested with concurrent powers under the Constitution to deal with issues relating to a violation under the State Act, even when the matter is under the consideration of the NCW. We are dealing with a matter that relates to the State and the person whom we are summoning belongs to our state,” Rahatkar said.
One of the main objectives behind the setting up of the MSCW is to further the fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles, 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India with respect to women and, to give effect to the Directive Principle of State Policy and in particular those enshrined in Articles 38, 39, 39A and 42 of the Constitution to improve the status and dignity of women in the society, to investigate into and take or suggest suitable remedial measures against practices derogatory to women.
On June 22, the MSCW had issued first summons to the actor to appear before it on June 29 and offer his explanation over his “felt like a raped woman” remark. The summons were issued to the actor a day after the NCW sought an explanation from the actor.
The MSCW’s summons to Salman had followed wide-spread public uproar over his “felt like a raped woman” remark. In an interview given to a website, the actor had said: “While shooting, during those six hours, there’d be so much of lifting and thrusting on the ground involved. That was tough for me because if I was lifting, I’d have to lift the same 120-kilo guy 10 times for 10 different angles. And likewise, get thrown that many times. This act is not repeated that many times in real fights... “When I used to walk out of the ring after the shoot, I used to feel like a raped woman. I couldn’t walk straight,” Khan said.