Saif vs bizman: Can the Taj please step in?

A quick recap on the Saif Ali Khan-Iqbal Sharma incident.

First, Iqbal Sharma’s side of the story.

“Iqbal Sharma, the South African national who filed a case of assault against Saif Ali Khan, said the actor had attacked him without any provocation,” Firstpost reported yesterday .

“We crossed near the narrow passage going downstairs and at that point he came up to me, abused me and started calling me names, ” Sharma, who suffered a broken nose and head injuries, said. Sharma said when the actor pushed him, his father-in-law intervened, the actor and his three friends attacked them as well. The businessman’s father-in-law, a senior citizen, said that when he attempted to intervene Saif struck him on the jaw, the report went on to say.

Now, Saif Ali Khan’s side of the story.

“There was an ugly incident last night where my friend and the ladies with us were abused and I was assaulted. I was hit and I was only defending myself,” Khan said in a statement, Firstpost had reported later yesterday.

Now for the viewpoint of the investigating authorities.

“Police say they will study Saif’s application and then decide if it’s a cognisable offence. So far, they insist, they haven’t given a clean chit to either the actor or Mr Sharma. “We are studying the restaurant’s CCTV footage. The security cameras at the staircase of the restaurant where the incident occurred did not capture the fight,” a senior police official said, adding that statements of actresses Kareena Kapoor and Amrita Arora will now be recorded, NDTV reported .

At this point, there are two sides to the story. Once Kareena Kapoor and Amrita Arora make their statements, there will still be two sides to the story – the ‘Saif’ side and the ‘Iqbal Sharma’ side. And if the CCTV footage does not capture the magical moments, it’s one side’s story against another. So it’s a standoff.

Is it? There’s a third view of the story that must be available – the view from the employees and from the CCTVs.

First, the CCTVs. The fracas seems to have occurred in a very public area – and there are no privacy concerns that could have suggested to the Taj that they should not capture images from this area. After the disaster of 26/11, it is difficult to imagine that they do not have CCTVs covering the common, non-private areas. If there was no coverage in the area where the altercation took place, the Taj’s security hasn’t got their act together. While all the cameras in the world cannot prevent an incident, they can certainly help in bringing the guilty to book.

Second, the staff at Wasabi and other staff in the immediate surroundings.

Why did they not calm down the situation before it reached a flashpoint? There were enough indications of a high-stress situation (three complaints by Sharma to the unit staff).

Why didn’t they anticipate the developments and alert security/ GM of the hotel, especially with the presence of/ involvement of a number of celebrities?

Why didn’t they bring the police in immediately?

What did they see/hear?

The Taj would have certainly conducted a detailed enquiry on the night itself (or they should have) and would have all the answers that are required to clear the air.

Can the Taj step in, please, and help out the overworked and harried police department?