Temporary relief to Govinda

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has given four weeks interim protection from arrest to film actor Govinda in a 20-year old defamation case. The complaint had alleged that he had defamed Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in a Hindi movie - Chhote Sarkar, which was released in 1997. The court also granted transit bail to Govinda on a surety of Rs 25,000 for four weeks and asked him to appear before the Jharkhand court, which had summoned him.

In 1997, a lawyer from the Pakur district of Jharkhand (then Bihar) had filed a case of defamation against Govinda, Shilpa Shetty, and several other crew members of the film. The complaint stated that the actors and other accused persons had defamed Bihar and Uttar Pradesh over the lyrics of the song ‘Ek chumma tu mujhko udhaar de de’ in the film Chhote Sarkar.

Govida had approached the Bombay high court and informed it that he was unaware of the Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) issued against him. Govinda’s lawyer argued that since the song had been picturised in Mumbai, the high court in Mumbai had the jurisdiction in the matter and therefore it could grant him protection from arrest in this case.

He argued that the personal liberty and freedom of the actor was at stake because the case was pending in a magistrate’s court in Pakur in Jharkhand.

Justice Sadhana Jadhav of the Bombay high court observed that considering the NBW, she couldn’t grant him anticipatory bail or transit bail. However, Govinda’s lawyer urged the court to grant him protection “at least for a limited period to allow him to initiate proceedings seeking to quash of the case against him.”

The high court gave Govinda the temporary relief by granting a transit remand.