Sued! Bollywood celebs who took their peers to court

In February last year, actress Sunny Leone had lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of Mumbai Police against Kamaal R Khan for falsely attributing controversial comments on rape to her on his microblogging page. The actor had posted, "Yeh lo…Sunny Leone says, ‘Rape is not a crime; it's just surprise sex' (sic).

With Kamaal R Khan recently tweeting that he was willing to pay Rs 1 crore to see Sunny Leone perform at Digvijaya Singh's wedding, the actress is again seeking police help against Khan

On May 1, Kamaal R Khan wrote on a social networking site, "I request to Digvijay Singh Ji to have a strip show of Sunny Leone in the function of his marriage and I will pay Rs 1crore to the Congress party fund. (sic)" In response to this tweet, Sunny Leone's lawyer now will be filing a fresh complaint against him.

Kamaal R Khan

Advocate Rizwan Siddiquee, who is representing Sunny Leone, says, "It is indeed shocking to note that despite filing an FIR against Kamaal R Khan more than a year ago under Sections 500, 504, 509 of the Indian Penal Code 1860 and Section 66(A) of Information Technology Act, the police seems to have taken no serious cognizance of the complaint, as a result of which, Kamaal R Khan has apparently once again sought to harass my client without any fear.

This has now become a very serious issue and shows the functioning of the police in a poor light. I am therefore constrained to issue a final notice to the police to take immediate cognizance of these offences.

If the police fail to perform its duties, then I shall be constrained to file appropriate proceedings against the department besides starting proceedings against Kamaal R Khan."

Bollywood celebrities taking potshots at each other is one thing, but filing cases or complaints against one's peers is another matter. hitlist takes a look at instances where film personalities were under legal attack from their colleagues...

Kangana Ranaut and Aditya Panscholi
Kangana's affair with Aditya Panscholi came out in the open when the former filed a police complaint against him for physical abuse. The actress was dating the actor-turned-filmmaker despite knowing that he was married to yesteryear actress, Zarina Wahab.

Kangna Ranaut

Apparently, it all started when Ranaut found support in actor Aditya Panscholi and his wife Zarina Wahab, who she then considered to be her ‘family away from home'. At first, Ranaut declined to speak about it openly, despite making several public appearances with him.

In 2007, it was reported that Ranaut had filed a police complaint against Pancholi for physically assaulting her under the influence of alcohol. The following year, Pancholi confirmed the affair in an interview, saying that he had co-habiting with Ranaut in the past.

He also accused her of owing him money to the tune of Rs 2.5 million. In response to these allegations, Ranaut's spokesperson had said, "After physically assaulting her in the middle of a road, he has no right to expect anything from her. Besides, she has already given him Rs 5 million."

Abbas Tyrewala and Preity Zinta
On September 12 last year, the local metropolitan magistrate's court at Andheri issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Bollywood actress Preity Zinta in connection with a cheque bouncing case.

The complaint was filed by Abbas Tyrewala, dialogue writer of the 2013 movie, Ishkq in Paris; Tyrewala went to court claiming that a cheque of R18.9 lakh had bounced. In her defence, Preity said that she had made the payment due to him.

At its last hearing, the court imposed a fine of R5,000 on Preity Zinta for non-appearance and a non-bailable arrest warrant was also issued, since she did not turn up in court for the hearing. In a setback to the actress, the Bombay High Court refused to quash proceedings against her asking her to face trial.

Sofia Hayat and Armaan Kohli
Actor Armaan Kohli was arrested in December last year for allegedly assaulting British-Pakistani actress Sofia Hayat during their stay at a Lonavala bungalow for the shoot of reality show, Bigg Boss. Kohli was then picked up from the Bigg Boss house by Lonavala city police.

It seems that Hayat, who was evicted from Bigg Boss 7, filed an FIR against Kohli at the Santacruz police station. She alleged that she was manhandled and subjected to unparliamentary language by him inside the Bigg Boss house.

Tusshar Kapoor and Samir Karnik
Tusshar has filed a police complaint against director Samir Karnik for misappropriation of funds amounting to nearly R1.7 crore. Tusshar had taken legal action against director Samir Karnik apparently due to non-payment of R1.75 crore for his promotional work for the film, Char Din Ki Chandni (2012). Furthermore, it is said that a cheque given to the actor, that was part payment for the film, had also bounced.

Pulkit Samrat and Ekta Kapoor
Pulkit Samrat, who was popular for his role as Lakshya in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, was once a favourite with Balaji Telefilms. But later, the actor filed a case against the production house over non-payment of dues and for not allowing him to take up projects from other production houses.

Natalie Portman and Saif Ali Khan
In July 2012, Natalie Portman sued actor-producer Saif Ali Khan, after he announced that they would collaborate on a Hindi film. Khan later clarified that he was joking, and had started the rumour in response to constant media reports on his personal life.

The actor had clarified saying, "It was a joke, I am sorry. It's just that I am very annoyed with speculation on all aspects of my life. If this goes on, I might just start making up stories like these to entertain myself. Hope people will understand that."