In
a
double
relief
for
actor
Salman
Khan,
the
Bombay
High
Court
on
Tuesday
stayed
till
May
5
the
process
(summons)
issued
to
him
by
a
lower
court
in
connection
with
the
alleged
misbehaviour
with
a
journalist
in
2019
while
a
magistrate's
court
exempted
him
from
personal
appearance
in
the
same
case
till
May
9.
A
civil
court
had
last
month
issued
process
(summons)
to
Salman
and
his
bodyguard
Nawaz
Shaikh
and
directed
them
to
appear
before
it
on
April
5.
On
Tuesday,
Salman's
lawyers
filed
an
application
before
the
magistrate's
court
seeking
exemption
from
appearance.
The
magistrate's
court
granted
the
exemption
and
posted
the
matter
for
hearing
on
May
9.
Salman
had
approached
the
Bombay
High
Court
challenging
the
process
(summons)
issued
to
him
by
the
lower
court.
On
Tuesday,
a
single
bench
of
Justice
Revati
Mohite
Dere
directed
the
complainant
(journalist
Ashok
Pandey)
to
file
an
affidavit
in
reply
to
the
actor's
plea
challenging
the
lower
court
order
issuing
process
and
seeking
to
quash
the
proceedings.
"The
proceedings
(in
the
lower
court)
with
regard
to
the
applicant
(Salman
Khan)
is
stayed," Justice
Dere
said
while
posting
the
plea
for
further
hearing
on
May
5.
Pandey
had
alleged
that
in
April
2019,
Salman
and
his
bodyguard
Nawaz
Shaikj
had
abused
and
assaulted
him
for
filming
the
actor
while
he
was
cycling
on
the
road.
Salman's
counsel
Aabad
Ponda
on
Tuesday
told
the
high
court
that
there
were
contradictions
and
improvisations
in
Pandey's
complaint
letter
to
the
police,
sent
on
April
24,
2019,
when
the
alleged
incident
occurred,
and
the
private
complaint
filed
by
him
before
the
magistrate's
court
in
June
2019.
"In
the
complaint
letter
to
the
police,
there
is
no
allegation
against
the
applicant
(Salman).
But
in
the
private
complaint
to
the
magistrate,
there
are
improvisations
and
he
(Pandey)
says
the
applicant
abused
and
assaulted
him," Ponda
said.
He
stated
that
Salman
had
not
said
a
word
to
Pandey.
If
the
allegation
is
against
Salman's
bodyguard
then
the
proceedings
may
go
on
against
him,
Ponda
said.
Justice
Dere
then
sought
to
know
from
advocate
Ejaz
Naqvi,
who
appeared
for
Pandey,
why
the
allegations
of
assault
were
not
mentioned
in
the
police
complaint
letter.
"You
(Pandey)
are
a
journalist.
If
someone
had
assaulted
you,
you
would
have
not
kept
quiet.
It
would
have
reflected
in
the
complaint
letter
to
the
police,"
Justice
Dere
said.
Pandey
had
filed
a
private
complaint
before
the
magistrate's
court
seeking
criminal
action
to
be
initiated
against
Salman
Khan
and
Shaikh.
Metropolitan
Magistrate
R
R
Khan
had
on
March
23
issued
process
to
Salman
and
Shaikh
after
noting
that
a
police
report
submitted
in
the
matter
stated
that
offences
under
Indian
Penal
Code
Sections
504
(intentional
insult
with
intent
to
provoke
breach
of
peace)
and
506
(criminal
intimidation)
are
made
out
against
the
accused
persons.
Pandey
had
alleged
that
the
actor
had
snatched
his
mobile
phone
while
cycling
on
a
Mumbai
street
when
some
media
persons
started
clicking
his
photos.
The
actor
had
allegedly
entered
into
an
argument
and
threatened
him,
Pandey
said
in
his
complaint.
The
magistrate's
court
had
earlier
directed
the
D
N
Nagar
police
here
to
conduct
an
inquiry
and
submit
a
report.
After
perusing
the
report,
the
court
held
that
there
were
sufficient
grounds
to
proceed
against
the
accused
persons.
The
issuance
of
a
process
marks
the
beginning
of
criminal
proceedings
before
a
metropolitan
or
judicial
magistrate
based
on
a
complaint
lodged
by
an
individual.
The
magistrate
court
issues
the
process
if
it
finds
prima
facie
substance
in
the
allegations
made
in
the
complaint.
Once
the
process
is
issued,
the
accused
persons
have
to
appear
before
the
court.