After the tragic demise of Sushant Singh Rajput, CBI took over the case after it was suspected of homicide. However, in the discourse, they found a drug angle in the case which was then taken over by NCB. Soon after, quite a few big names from the Bollywood industry emerged in the media in the drug angle. Having said that, Bollywood producers have decided to consolidate a specific drug consumption clause in their contracts.
Speaking about the same, some officials from the film industry are certain that this specific clause should be included in the star's contract. Legal advisor to a lot of foreign studios, Dina Dattani told Pinkvilla, “Yes, most international studios do have a clause worded similar to the following draft: The consumption of alcohol and/or controlled substances during working hours will be considered a violation of the terms of this agreement and may be cause for the artist's immediate dismissal at the producer's entire discretion.”
“In addition, contracts often state that the artist shall adhere to all the policies of the producer in place relating to the prohibition of the use of drugs, alcohol, smoking, employee harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace, and others in place from time to time in relation to this production. A set of policies is then provided to each artist/crew member for that production”, she added.
Deepika Padukone
Hitesh Jain, Senior Lawyer who has worked with a lot of big production firms also said that a specific clause must be included by some companies stating that any artists should not indulge in narcotics and if named in any narcotics investigation for either consumption or otherwise dealing with drugs, the company has the right to terminate the agreement.
Sara Ali Khan
While Rohini Vakil is a legal advisor to film bodies and members of the film fraternity said that some producers already have a clause in their contract. However, she also mentioned that henceforth, this clause should be mandatory for everyone because if any artist indulges in illegal activity then it is a huge loss for the production team as a lot of people are associated with the team.
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