On Sunday, many tweets were going viral with the claim that Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has ‘donated’ Rs 23 lakh for an RO (reverse osmosis) plant at the Vadodara railway station. Many verified Twitter accounts, too, were tweeting the same.
#ShahRukhKhan spends 23 Lakhs for RO plant at Vadodara station. @iamsrk pic.twitter.com/xJu7fih8wz
— BombayTimes (@bombaytimes) July 31, 2022
Times Group’s Bombay Times was one of the first to tweet that Shah Rukh Khan has spent Rs 23 lakh for an RO plant at Vadodara Railway Station.
However, soon it was picked up by others who claimed he had ‘donated’ the money.
One Rahul Kumar Pandey, a verified Twitter handle, tweeted how Khan got in touch with authorities in Vadodara and when he was informed about ‘water scarcity’, he decided to donate an RO plant at the railway station.
Other SRK fan accounts, too, joined in.
Shah Rukh Khan spends 23 LAKHS for RO PLANT ( water supply ) in Vadodara, Gujrat.
— R 0 NIT彡 (@imvengeance24) July 31, 2022
This shows how great @iamsrk is , he doesn’t do charity while his films release, he does it from his heart for the betterment of the society, just like his character from swades. pic.twitter.com/NYfU8SgF02
His fans from Pakistan, too, joined in.
Shah Rukh Khan Spen 2.3M..INR for RO Plants in Vadodara,
— SRK Universe Pakistan 🇵🇰 (@SRKUniversePK0) July 31, 2022
The Great Human being #ShahRukhKhan pic.twitter.com/lHfP87XIhe
However, this does not seem to be the case.
In March 2022, Gujarat High Court had proposed to Shah Rukh Khan’s lawyer that the actor can consider installing an RO plant at Vadodara railway station where an case was registered against him when a stampede occurred during film promotion of Raees in January 2017. One person was killed and two policemen were injured when the actor arrived at Vadodara railway station and halted for 10 minutes. The fans who had come to meet him went into tizzy and police had to resort to mild lathicharge to control the crowd.
When the train started to move, fans started running along the train. One person lost his life due to breathlessness and two policemen were injured. Along with Khan, cricketers Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan had also arrived at the station to meet the superstar.
Subsequently, a case was registered against him, and the court issued summons to him under the Railways Act for rash and negligent act that cause grievous hurt and endangered lives of others. Later, Khan approached the High Court to quash the FIR against him. In March 2022, an elaborate hearing took place at magisterial court in Vadodara. Vadodara High Court judge, while hearing the case on quashing the FIR, opined that this act of throwing soft balls and tshirt to fans was not act done rashly or negligently but that of overenthusiasm.
The judge then asked Khan’s lawyer if he would be open to setting up an RO plant on station to mitigate damages that can help people for years to come. The lawyer had agreed.
As of now, it is not yet clear whether the said RO plant that was suggested by the court has been operational on Vadodara Railway station, but it is unlikely the actor ‘donated’ the money for the RO plant ‘out of goodness of his heart’ since he has been suggested to do so by the court itself.
