JAIPUR: The Rajasthan High Court on Thursday quashed an FIR against Bollywood actors Shilpa Shetty and Salman Khan under the SC-ST Act.The FIR, filed in December 2017, at the Churu Kotwali police station, alleged that derogatory remarks were made against the Valmiki community during a TV interview promoting the film Tiger Zinda Hai.Advocate Prashant Patil, representing Shilpa Shetty, argued the case before the Jodhpur High Court. A single bench led by Justice Arun Monga ruled that an FIR under the SC-ST Act cannot be registered without proper sectioning and inquiry. The court further observed that the allegations in the FIR did not meet the legal criteria to constitute a criminal offense. Court Highlights Flaws in FIR The High Court bench noted that the FIR was filed more than three years after the alleged incident in 2013, raising serious doubts about its credibility. Justice Monga emphasized that such extraordinary delays often lead to exaggerations, weakening the merits of a case. Additionally, the court highlighted that sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(u) of the SC-ST Act, cited in the FIR, were added to the Act in 2016, while the alleged incident occurred in 2013. Thus, applying these sections retroactively was deemed legally incorrect.
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