Chaini Parwani –
Published On: November 08, 2021 at 15:55 IST
The Bombay High Court informed Maharashtra Cabinet Minister and Nationalist Congress Party India (NCP) Leader Nawab Malik to submit an Affidavit in response to the Defamation Suit by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede’s father, Dhyandev Kachruji Wankhede, claiming Rs 1.25 crore in damages from Malik.
A Single-Judge vacation Bench of Justice Madhav J Jamdar adjudicated Dhyandev’s Petition for interim relief, including deletion of articles, tweets, interviews in electronic and social media, and a temporary injunction restraining respondents from publishing, writing and commenting in any media on Monday.
The previous month, Nawab Malik had shared a Birth Certificate, evidently of Sameer Wankhede, observing that his father is one Dawood Wankhede. Furthermore, Sameer Wankhede declared a statement alleging that his father was Hindu and his mother was Muslim.
The Petition alleged that the complete attack against Sameer Wankhede began only after Sameer Khan, his son-in-law, was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in January under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for purportedly trading in contraband.
Further, the Lawsuit stated that the Defendants have caused irreparable destruction and prejudice to the name, character, reputation, and social image of the Plaintiff and his family members, and that the statements by the Defendants are “tortious and defamatory”.
Furthermore, Advocate Arshad Shaikh representing Dhyandev noted that Malik had been abusing Dhyandev’s family as fraud and that Malik has been posting something or the other every day on Social Media.
The Suit sought direction from the Court to order Malik to pay the plaintiff Rs 1.25 crore as damages for his allegedly defamatory and derogatory tweets, interviews, and press releases posted on any form of media.
Senior Advocate Atul Damle, representing Malik, stated that his client received the Lawsuit on Sunday and he had no directives to present a statement or demonstrate that the Suit was defective.
Justice Jamdar sternly stated, “You (Malik) file your reply by tomorrow. If you can reply on Twitter, you can reply here also.”
After hearing the submissions, the Bench asked Malik to submit an Affidavit to the suit by Tuesday (November 9) and further adjourned the matter for hearing on November 10.
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