Cases against film stars, PILs dominated legal scene in Maha

Cases against the famous Khan troika of Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir, dispute between Thackeray brothers Udhav and Jaidev over father's will, NSEL scam and a spate of public interest litigations in the Bombay High Court dominated the legal scenario in Maharashtra during 2014.
Cases related to former Miss World Yukta Mookhey's divorce, actor Shiney Ahuja's hearing, Vodafone IT issue and Adarsh scam also made news.
A fresh trial resumed in a sessions court in the 2002 hit-and-run case involving Salman with prosecution examining more than 15 witnesses during the year. The trial has reached its fag end with a few more witnesses waiting to be examined.

Salman is facing the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder which attracts sentence up to 10 years. Earlier, he was being tried by a magistrate for rash and negligent driving which prescribes punishment up to two years.
In a relief to Shah Rukh, the high court in June dismissed a petition filed by activist Varsha Deshpande against a magistrate's order not allowing her access to records of the surrogate mother in the case of actor's newborn child in 2013.
Deshpande had sought prosecution of the actor, his wife and their doctors on the basis of a media report in June 2013 which claimed that the star couple were having a baby boy through surrogacy. Aamir denied the allegations.

In another development in early December, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal overturned an order of the tax authorities to add Rs 2.28 crore to Shah Rukh's net wealth as he had lent his wife as interest free loan to buy flat and jewellery.

The superstar's wife Gauri had used Rs 1.65 crore of the loaned amount to buy a house in Delhi and Rs 63 lakh for jewellery. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) had ordered adding the amount to Shah Rukh's net wealth for Assessment Year 2005-06 on ground that it amounted to transfer of assets.
A civil suit was filed against Aamir and producer and director of his film "PK" challenging the semi-nude poster of the actor saying it displayed vulgarity. The court ruled in December that it had the jurisdiction to hear the suit.

In the matrimonial dispute, Mookhey and her estranged husband Prince Tuli were granted divorce as a result of mutual consent by a family court.
Later, the Bombay High Court quashed the FIR registered against Tuli at Yukta's instance. The court also asked police to hand over personal belongings of the estranged couple, collected as evidence, to the respective parties following their amicable settlement.