Bollywood film stars named in Bahraini sheikh's London high court case

A much publicised hearing involving top Bollywood film stars, including Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, with a Dubai-based Egyptian national Ahmed Adel Abdallah Ahmed claiming damages of $33.5 million from a member of the Bahraini royal family Sheikh Hamad Isa Ali al-Khalifa for breach of "contract", got underway at the High Court in London on Tuesday. 

The Sheikh, a cousin of the King of Bahrain, was allegedly prepared to pay up to $1.5 million per meeting, which would last merely 15 to 25 minutes. In fact, he got to enjoy the company of both Shah Rukh and Salman, before - the accusation is - he reneged on his commitment on wanting to interact with other stars. According to the claimant, 26 actors were on the list of people Hamad wished to be acquainted with. 

In a packed courtroom at the Rolls Building of the Royal Courts of Justice, both the claimant and the defendant were present with their respective battery of lawyers. A tense subtext of the legal battle was the contest between Zaiwalla & Co, one of few Indian solicitors' firms based in The City of London, and a British counterpart, Herbert Smith Freehills. 

35-year-old Zaiwalla & Co, founded by Sarosh Zaiwalla, who is originally from Mumbai, shot to fame in the early 1990s by representing filmstar Amitabh Bachchan and his brother Ajitabh in a defamation suit against a Swedish newspaper. The daily had named the Bachchans as being involved in the alleged kickback scandal relating to field guns purchased by the Indian Army when Rajiv Gandhi was India's prime minister. Zaiwalla won the case for the brothers.  

Proceedings began with the defendant's lawyer, a Queen's Counsel, objecting to late submission of evidence and witness statements or replacement of what was served previously. Justice Jacobs overruled the objection but also allowed admission of material similarly submitted by the defence. 

There was no written contract executed between the parties. Stephen Nathan, a Queen's Counsel, appearing for the claimant argued that in the Arab world a verbal agreement equates to a contract. That violation of one's word in such situations is "haram". He read out text messages sent by the defendant to the claimant, which, according to the barrister, suggested there was a "very solemn contract" and that the latter had been appointed as the "sole representative" in the matter of setting up meetings with the former's favourite Bollywood actors. Hamad referred to Ahmed as his "brother" in such messages. "I owe my happiness to Mr Adel," he is said to have stated. 

However, the relationship went pear shaped after the Sheikh was invited for the Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA) function at Dubai later in 2016. He reportedly sponsored a major prize at the event through Ahmed's company, but - contrary to the arrangement - did not make an appearance to hand over the trophy. Ahmed suspects Hamad was contacted on the sidelines of this extravaganza by a person who took away the business from him. 

The Sheikh denies all charges. His advocates challenged the claimant's version of events, including the existence of any binding contract between the two sides. "He (Ahmed) was not acting as an authorised agent of the Sheikh," the defence responded. The ties between Hamad and Ahmed was described as a "loose friendship", that any understanding was "informal". The claimant was painted as a "cynical, entrepreneurial businessman". 

Mumbai-based Jogesh Bansal, referred to as "Tony", was produced as the first witness by Ahmed. He said he was appointed to work on the logistics of the Sheikh's meetings with Shah Rukh and Salman. The defence tore into him by attempting to point out discrepancies between two of his earlier recorded witness statements. But Bansal stood his ground by saying his second statement was more detailed and also corrected inadvertent errors in the first statement.

In an earlier ruling, it was ordered the case could be heard in England, as the Sheikh spent much of his time in London and workwise operated out of here. In course of continuous hearings up to Monday, both the claimant and the defendant will enter the witness box. The Bollywood stars, though, are not expected to follow suit.