Court tells Qutubuddin Ansari to prove he's the face of Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: A court here recently asked Qutubuddin Ansari, the face of the 2002 Gujarat riots, to prove he is indeed the teary-eyed man pleading for protection with folded hands in a well-known photograph taken during the communal violence.

The Ahmedabad-based tailor's picture had gone viral, with NGOs, political parties and even terror outfits making liberal use of it.

On March 10, a metropolitan court rejected a defamation case filed by Ansari against the makers of the Bollywood film 'Rajdhani Express' on the grounds that he could not furnish evidence to prove his identity in the picture.

Last year, Ansari had sued the makers of 'Rajdhani Express', which released in January 2013, for using his photograph without prior consent and alleged it was done to "sensationalize the film". He had taken strong exception of his photo being displayed, in the film, at a police station "as a common man in need of help", against whom a policeman, played by Jimmy Shergill, pulls the trigger of a gun. He had said the photo was used in bad taste.

Ansari had sought Rs 25 lakh towards damages from the filmmakers. He wanted the court to invoke IPC's Section 153 against them for causing enmity between two communities and also sought action for criminal defamation under IPC's section 499.

Last March the court had set up an inquiry after verifying Ansari's complaint. He was asked to come up with evidence to prove the man in the widely circulated photograph was indeed him. Ansari accordingly provided a CD to the court.

Rejecting Ansari's application, additional chief metropolitan magistrate A Y Vakani said the complainant had not placed any evidence to substantiate his claim. The court ruled it appeared there was no intention on the filmmakers' part to damage Ansari's image in society. It said no incident of rioting was recorded to have taken place due to the use of the photograph in the film.

In 2012, Ansari had requested the city police commissioner and other authorities to restrain the media from using the photograph.