Bollywood stars on the wrong side of the law

Bollywood stars have found themselves on the wrong side of the law on many instances throughout the years.

When Aryan Khan, the 23-year-old son of celebrity couple Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan was arrested in a drugs case from on board a cruise ship earlier this month, Bollywood came under the spotlight again for the wrong reasons.

One of the top stars to serve jail sentence is Sanjay Dutt - in connection for keeping a Kalashnikov assault rifle which was part of the consignment that landed ahead of the 12 March, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. A TADA court in Mumbai had convicted him which was upheld by the Supreme Court. His turbulent life was the subject of the acclaimed Bollywood movie, "Sanju".

Salman Khan was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run case registered in 2003, in which one person died and two others got injured. Salman was convicted by the Mumbai Sessions Court, however, the Bombay High Court acquitted him. The matter is currently in the Supreme Court.

Salman was also arrested in a blackbuck poaching case. Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu, and Neelam were co-accused in the case.

Another case from Bollywood that grabbed eyeballs is related to the conviction of actor Shiney Ahuja. He was on his way to becoming the next big thing in Bollywood with his performances in films such as "Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi" and "Gangster" but his career went south when his domestic help accused him of rape in 2009. Despite the domestic help later retracting her statement, the sessions court convicted Ahuja based on circumstantial evidence.

In 2001, Fardeen Khan was arrested from for possession of cocaine from a dealer. The case proceeded before a special NDPS court. A few years ago, a court granted him immunity from prosecution in the case. However, the court made it clear that if the actor is arrested for a similar offence in the future, the immunity against him shall be withdrawn.

Sooraj Pancholi, son of Bollywood couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, hit the headlines even before his debut following actor-singer Jiah Khan's mysterious suicide. He was briefly jailed on charges of abetting her suicide but was later released on bail. The case is still to conclude.

More recently, Rhea Chakraborty was arrested and later granted bail in a drug case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. She has been accused of procuring drugs for Rajput. The Narcotics Control Bureau had called her as an "active member of a drug syndicate". Rhea was arrested after Rajput, was found dead in his flat in Mumbai on June 14, 2020.

Several personalities from the Hindi film industry, including Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Raveena Tandon, and Pooja Bhatt among others, have rallied behind Shah Rukh Khan, after the superstar's son was arrested in a drugs case.