Actor Salman Khan remained unapologetic in his responses to notices sent by two women’s panels for using a rape analogy to describe the gruelling shoot for his upcoming film ‘Sultan’.
Expressing displeasure over his failure to appear before the Maharashtra State Commission for Women, the commission has summoned the actor to explain his “rape” remark and asked him to appear before the panel on July 7.
The panel has termed the actor’s reply as “unsatisfactory”.Besides, the National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam on Wednesday said it was looking into Khan’s response, which wad “not apologetic”.
“Salman Khan has sent a reply and it is not apologetic in tenor. We now need to decide what we are going to do next. We have to look at both what comes under our mandate and what are the legalities involved,” she said in New Delhi.
She added: “We are not going to give out the details of Salman Khan’s reply now. We need to first go through it in detail, along with our lawyers. Only then will both his replies and what we are going to do next will be made public.”
The actor’s reply was e-mailed to NCW through a lawyer on Tuesday evening, while the Commission notice was sent directly to Khan, 50, at his residence.
“The reply has come from his lawyer, which means it is a legal reply. So we can’t just reply off the cuff,” Kumaramangalam said.
The NCW chief had earlier said that if the actor did not furnish a satisfactory reply, then he could be asked to appear before the Commission.
Calling the comment “callous and condemnable”, NCW had issued a notice to Khan last week, giving him five days to reply, over a comment he had made comparing himself with a “raped woman” when quizzed about the gruelling shoot for the film ‘Sultan’.
“We have sent him a letter asking for explanation in seven days. We have said that he should tender a public apology,” the NCW chairperson had then said.
In Mumbai, the actor sent a letter to the Maharashtra State Commission for Women on Tuesday through his lawyer, stating that the case was already being heard by the national commission and the matter could not be heard simultaneously at two places.
After considering his response, the panel expressed dissatisfaction over the actor’s argument. “The Commission and its members today went through the letter given by the actor and we found it unsatisfactory.
The letter says that case is already being heard by the NCW, and henceforth, it would tantamount to a case of double zero party,” said the state commission’s chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar.
She added: “But we are of the view that our state commission has been conferred with concurrent powers and case can be heard at both the places simultaneously.”
After a thorough discussion, the Commission has now summoned the actor along with his lawyer on July 7, without fail to present his position, she said.
The state commission had sent him a notice, seeking his explanation on the alleged remarks by Wednesday afternoon.
When asked, what steps the Commission would take if Khan failed to turn up again on July 7, Rahatkar said, “That would be decided that day.”