Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar and wife Twinkle Khanna’s initiative to auction the Navy ‘uniform’ the actor wore in his film Rustom has backfired on the couple. The chaos over the auction of the costume has now landed them in a legal soup.

Lt Col Sandeep Ahlawat, who slammed the auction plan on social media and also took on Twinkle Khanna who tweeted about it, has now decided to take legal action. Ahlawat, along with others, will file a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) against Akshay and Twinkle in the Bombay High Court accusing them of tarnishing the uniform by initiating sale of a film memorabilia as an “actual naval officer uniform”.

After the controversy erupted, Akshay Kumar had spoken in support of Twinkle Khanna at an event. “I support my wife on that matter. I and my wife are doing some work with good intention for a good cause. That was a costume that I used in the film. It is going for (for auction) a good cause. I do not think we have done anything wrong,” he had said, adding, “If anyone finds it wrong then it is okay. I cannot do anything on that.”

The controversy sparked after Akshay Kumar tweeted about the auction on 26 April. He had written, “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!”

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 https://t.co/6Qr0LRnTFm! pic.twitter.com/FF23tlogs1

— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) April 26, 2018

Twinkle Khanna retweeted the post and got a response from ‘an enraged citizen’. In a post shared by journalist Sandeep Unnithan, there was a message for Twinkle, which read: “If you even make a feeble attempt to auction this piece of costume in the garb of ‘UNIFORM’ then I will drag you to the court. You touch our honour and we will give you a bloody nose.”

And this response to @mrsfunnybones ill advised idea to auction the Rustom costume comes from one of the finest men in uniform I know- Lt Col Sandeep Ahlawat. pic.twitter.com/lwDXuG0CLm

— Sandeep (@SandeepUnnithan) April 28, 2018

She went on to warn to take legal action against trolls and wrote, “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!”

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! #JaiHind https://t.co/OF7e5lTHel

— Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) April 29, 2018

Rustom, starring Akshay Kumar, is a film based on the famous Nanavati murder case. KM Nanavati, a naval officer, had murdered his wife’s lover after he found about his wife’s infidelity and then surrendered to the police. The jury had pronounced Nanavati “not guilty”.