On Wednesday afternoon, The Times of India reported that a molestation case is being filed against self-proclaimed film reviewer Kamaal R Khan, under Section 354 of the IPC. While details about the charges against Khan, or KRK as he is better known as, are still to emerge, at first glance, it does seem to be in relation to the defamation charges brought against him by filmmaker Vikram Bhatt. Khan seemed to be in a defiant mood as he re-tweeted TOI’s post that mentioned the molestation charge; with several vitriolic comments about Bhatt.
FIR being filed against @kamaalrkhan for molestation under Section 354 of IPC
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) June 29, 2016
The fresh charges against Khan come after Bhatt decided to take legal action against him for a particularly lewd video “review” of the film 1920 London. _Read on Firstpost: Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt files defamation suit against Kamaal R Khan_ [caption id=“attachment_2863446” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Vikram Bhatt (L); Kamaal R Khan[/caption] The “review” in question began with Khan establishing that he disliked 1920 London (which Vikram has neither produced nor directed — unlike previous iterations of the franchise, 1920 and 1920: Evil Returns). But his monologue then goes into personal territory, making salacious remarks about the film’s leading lady Meera Chopra, and making ‘casting couch’ aspersions against Bhatt himself. _Also on Firstpost, Kamaal R Khan's previous run-ins with celebrities_ This isn’t the first occasion Khan has made remarks of an offensive nature — previously, he has made extremely demeaning comments about Nargis Fakhri, Sunny Leone (who filed a complaint against him with the Cyber Crime Cell of the Mumbai Police for falsely attributing comments about rape to her), Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Dhanush (a case was filed agsinst Khan for making racist remarks about the actor in the film Raanjhana, under Section 66A of the IT Act) and Sonakshi Sinha (who delivered quite the put-down to Khan on social media). When Vikram Bhatt and his lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee brought defamation charges against Khan, they said they would be seeking legal recourse on behalf of Meera Chopra as well. Bhatt also wrote a long Facebook post explaining just why he felt the need to make Khan legally accountable for his remarks.
For now, it seems as though Khan won’t be “muzzled” by the legal charges against him. But whether or not Bhatt’s legal approach will win the day remains to be seen.