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| Edited By: Soumyadipta Banerjee |Source: DNA |Updated: Nov 21, 2013, 01:44 PM IST
It was on June 16 that actor Imran Khan declared to the public that he is ‘planning to’ to file a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) against the regulation passed by the Maharashtra government which raises the legal age to drink from 21 to 25 years. The actor, who is on a whirlwind promotional tour for his upcoming film, declared that he has asked his lawyers to file the PIL at the Bombay high court challenging the government’s decision. But more than a week later, the PIL is yet to be filed.
Senior lawyers at the Bombay high court said that the PIL from Imran hasn’t been filed till now even though the actor had more than seven days to file it after he made a public declaration. According to sources, the whole declaration about the PIL was carefully engineered in tandem with his publicity machinery around the time of his movie’s release.
“I haven’t been contacted for the PIL and neither do I know if anybody has been contacted for it. I haven’t heard about such a PIL being filed by an actor in the court,” said senior lawyer Vibhav Krishna, who has successfully fought legal battles for many Bollywood celebs in the past. Other lawyers keeping a track on the developments also confirmed that the PIL has not been filed till date.
Queries regarding whereabouts of the actor revealed that he is currently in Delhi. Interestingly, though PILs can be filed from anywhere in India, this specific PIL will have to be filed in Mumbai jurisdiction.
“Since it concerns a regulation that is specific to Maharashtra government’s decision, it has to be filed in Mumbai,” Vibhav added.
According to sources close to the actor, Imran is still on a whirlwind tour to promote his movie.
“There have been several such regulations and shocking incidents that happened in Mumbai earlier, but there has never been any kind of reaction from Imran before. But this recent development and reaction comes interestingly at a time when his movie is about to release. It would’ve been right if he had filed the PIL and then spoken about it. In such matters, there should be nothing like ‘I am planning to do it’...” says a filmmaker on conditions of anonymity.
