Vadodara police to record Mallika's statement on her 'obscene' dance

Vadodara, June 29 (UNI) A Vadodara court today pulled up the city police before granting another one month time to complete its investigation into the alleged ''obscene'' New Year eve dance programme of item girl and Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat.

Expressing its dissatisfaction over ''incomplete'' police investigation report submitted in the court of First Class Judicial Magistrate D K Trivedi, the court chided the police for not being able to collect any evidence in connection with the show and record the statements of the two prime accused -- Mallika and the owner of Mumbai's J W Marriot Hotel, where the item girl performed her alleged ''obscene'' dance programme on the night of December 31, last year.

Police sources said a team of city police would soon visit Mumbai to record the statements of Mallika and the hotel owner, and try to collect all evidence, including the video footages shown in different channels and the agreement papers relating to the programme.

Petitioner Narendra Tiwari, who had filed a complaint in the court in the second week of January this year, had prayed for action against the accused duo for committing an offence under section 8 of the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act.

Mallika had reportedly charged Rs 50 lakh for her obscene dance performance, said Tiwari, who is also the President of Baroda Bar Association. The petitioner had also filed a contempt application against the city police for delaying the investigation into the case despite several court orders.

Tiwari alleged that though the court had earlier issued summons to both the accused, police took over five months to submit its investigation report without recording the accused statements or collecting any evidence in the case, which prompted the court to direct the J P Road police to complete its investigation within a month.

The hearing was adjourned to July 29 awaiting the final police investigation report.

UNI