Mumbai, May 9: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar and his wife Twinkle Khanna have been served a legal notice for auctioning the naval uniform which the actor wore in the movie 'Rustom'. According to the notice, the couple has played with the sentiments of armed forces personnel and widows of fallen soldiers. As per media reports, 21 individuals including 11 serving officers and seven retired officers have filed a PIL against Akshay and Twinkle in the Bombay High Court.

The notice has also been sent to auction house SaltScout, which has put out the naval officer uniform for online bidding. The highest bid offered for the uniform till now is Rs 235,000. The auction closes on May 26 night.

The Bollywood couple has defended their action by saying that the money raised from the auction would be used for social causes and 90 percent of the net proceeds from it would support NGO Janice's Trust, an animal rescue service, treatment centre and shelter based in Panchgani in Maharashtra. Replying to a question at an event in Mumbai last week, Akshay Kumar said, “If anyone finds it wrong then it is okay. I cannot do anything on that.” Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present at the event.

According to the notice, by putting the uniform in the auction, the Bollywood couple has shown no respect for national interest and have also played with the sentiments of armed forces personnel and their widows and their family members. It also said, “As a matter of fact, till date, no uniform or medal has been put for auction. The reason for the same being that an officer's uniform is bestowed as a singular honour on a commissioned officer by President of India for life. It is not a contract but entails liability for the nation's sake and thus the array of medals and ranks, insignia are for the discerning eye of the one who proudly wears it."  The legal notice has also asked Akshay and Twinkle to cancel the auction otherwise necessary action would be taken under the Indian Penal Code. The notice also pointed out the guidelines issued by the Indian Army to civilians to avoid wearing army pattern dresses post Terror attack at the Air Force Station in Pathankot in January 2016.

The entire controversy started when Kumar’s wife, author and producer Twinkle Khanna supported his decision of auctioning the uniform.  Responding to Khanna’s tweet senior army officer Lt. Col Sandeep Ahlawat expressed his anger against the auction through his Facebook post.

Responding to Lt. Col. Ahlawat’s comment, Khanna had tweeted, "As a society, do we really think it's all right to threaten a woman with bodily harm for trying to raise funds for a charity by auctioning a uniform used in a movie, a piece of film memorabilia? I will not retaliate with violent threats but by taking legal action!"

On April 26, Akshay Kumar informed about auctioning his costume of Rustom movie through Twitter. He had tweeted, "Hi all, I'm thrilled to announce that you can bid to win the actual naval officer uniform I wore in Rustom! Auction's proceeds will support the cause of animal rescue and welfare. Place your bid at http://www.SaltScout.com !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 09, 2018 09:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).