Celina to sue airport official

Celina Jaitly is filing a defamation suit against airport official Jayashree Shivalingam, who accused her of rowdy and indecent behaviour.

"Jayashree has been painting the town red with statements against my behaviour and character. I can't take this any more.

In all all probability, I will complete the formalities of filing the suit by Monday," says Jaitly.

Her lawyer, Rizwan Siddique, tells HiTLIST, "My clients, Celina and her brother Vikrant, are innocent. Jayashree has misrepresented facts and caused harm to their image. The truth is that Jayashree was about to physically assault Celina, who, therefore, sought police intervention."

Recounting what transpired at the airport, Celina says, "Vikrant and I were not travelling to J&K, as reported.

Shaun and I had gone to the airport to see Vikrant off — he was flying to Indore. He was late, and panicking that he would not make the flight. When we reached the airport, Vikrant hurried out of the car.

This happened in the usual drop-off zone, in front of the Jet Airways lounge. I, too, got out, and we hugged for a few seconds. I saw Jayashree commenting on this to a man besides her, pointing at me.

Before I could realise it, she was pounding on my car. We did not park the car, so where is the question of trespassing on a restricted zone, which Jayashree is talking about?"

When the actress's car started to leave, Celina says Jayashree was moving along with it, hurling abuses at her. "At this point, I got out of the car. I cannot tolerate humiliation in public." Celina maintains she did not abuse Jayashree.

"Vikrant turned around and came running, asking me to leave. Then he went back to board his flight. A few seconds later, I called him and told him to complain against that woman."

Later, Vikrant called Celina to say he had missed the flight, and that airport authorities were not recording his complaint against Shivalingam. "He left for Indore the next day. That evening, I broke my arm when I slipped in my house. I tried to forget the incident, but was flabbergasted to see Jayashree making it into such a big issue.

Why would Vikrant and I say anything uncharitable to a government official? Vikrant is an army commando. We value people and their services," the actress adds. "I have faced too much humiliation because of Jayashree. It's time to give it back to her," concludes a determined Celina.