Saif Ali Khan agrees to mediation in hotel brawl case

MUMBAI: A magistrate's court on Thursday suggested the mediation route in the matter of the 2012 brawl in which actor Saif Ali Khan is an accused. Khan agreed, and the matter will now be heard on July 27, when all parties involved in the case will have to remain present.

"On that day if the parties decide that they do not want to reach a settlement, then the matter will have to go to trial," public prosecutor Waajid Shaikh said.

While Khan was present in the courtroom, two other accused, Shakeel Ladak and Bilal Amrohi, remained absent.

"The advocates of the two others have also consented to the mediation," public prosecutor Shaikh said. "The complainant, NRI businessman Iqbal Sharma, was not present because of some business commitments."

On February 22, 2012, Khan, along with his family and friends Ladak and Amrohi, was having dinner at a five-star hotel when a brawl broke out.

The police say that when Sharma protested against the raucous chatter of the group, Khan allegedly threatened him and his father-in-law, Raman Patel, and went on to punch Sharma on the nose, fracturing it.

Khan maintained that Sharma made provocative statements and used abusive language about the women accompanying him, leading to the ruckus.

Shaikh explained that since the offences registered against the trio were compoundable, the option of mediation and settlement could be explored.

"The mediation can be either conditional or unconditional," he said. "The former could involve a settlement reached with conditions of compensation or apology or both."