Gustad gets reprieve

Filmmaker Kaizad Gustad will no longer face trial on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in connection with the death of his assistant in 2004 on the railway tracks at Mahalaxmi station during a film shooting, reports The Times of India (TOI) of January 16, 2009. Gustad was discharged from this offence by the sessions court on January 15, 2009 and will now face trial for the less serious charge of death caused by negligence which attracts a jail term of up to two years, as against up to 10 years for the more serious offence, the TOI elaborated.

Kaizad Gustad: a less serious charge

Gustad is the prime accused for the death of Nadia Khan, a 26-year-old British citizen. He and his two assistants were arrested on June 2, 2004 and released on bail by the Bombay High Court on June 30 of that year, recalls TOI. In 2008, after the deposition of two key eyewitnesses, a magistrate had held that Gustad had a prima facie case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The prosecution maintained that Gustad was culpable since he had knowledge that anyone on a running track could be in danger of being hit by a train. Also, permission to shoot was only on tracks that were not being used on that day.

Gustad’s lawyer Junaid Shabwani lined up witnesses who said they did not know why Khan was on the "live” track as she had herself prepared the call sheet on which it was mentioned that no one should cross the running tracks. Besides, even the cameraman of the film unit said that the shooting rehearsal was on track one and Khan had no reason to be on track four where the train hit her. TOI reports that these might be the grounds the judge’s decision swung in Gustad’s favor. Daily News and Analysis (DNA) of January 16, 2009 reveals that Shabwani argued that Khan was indirectly responsible for her own death.

This is the third time in the four-year trial that Gustad’s case has been salvaged by a higher court order, reports Mumbai Mirror of January 16, 2009. Khan was killed on May 25, 2004 while shooting for Gustad’s now shelved film Mumbai Central.