ARREST WARRANT AGAINST SANJAY DUTT
ACTOR FAILS TO APPEAR BEFORE COURT IN A THREATCALL CASE
MUMBAI:The Andheri metropolitan magistrate court issued an arrest warrant against Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt on Saturday as he failed to appear before it in connection with a 2013 complaint filed by producer Shakil Noorani.
Dutt’s spokesperson, in a statement, said: “This case has been going on since a long time and the present situation has arisen because of communication lapse between our lawyers and us. We respect the urgency shown by the honourable court regarding our attendance/representation and we would take immediate measure to rectify the situation.”
Noorani’s complaint dates back to 2013 when the producer alleged he had received threat calls from underworld gangsters on behalf of Dutt to settle a dispute regarding a film, which the actor allegedly did not complete.
The producer’s lawyers, Niraj Gupta and Nisha Arora, claimed that the Andheri court had issued several summons to the actor but he failed to appear. “When the complaint was filed in 2013, Dutt had ignored it and a warrant was issued. He, however, had obtained a bail that time. Later, the case could not proceed as he was in jail in connection with the 1993 bomb blast case,” Gupta said. He added that the presence of the accused is required before recording evidence and so the court could not hear the case during Dutt’s imprisonment.
As per the case filed by Noorani, Dutt had promised to act in his film ‘Jaan ki Bazi’. Noorani alleged that the actor had also taken around ₹40 lakh from him. As Noorani filed a case against Dutt for not returning the money, it is alleged that he started receiving threat calls to withdraw the complaint.