The Bombay High Court on Monday directed Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik to reply to a defamation suit filed by the father of Narcotics Control Bureau zonal director Sameer Wankhede.
Also read: Nawab Malik should not make ‘baseless allegations’: Maharashtra BJP chief
A vacation Bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar was hearing the suit filed by Dhyandev Wankhede seeking damages of ₹ 1.25 crore for making ‘defamatory’ statements. The plea mentions Mr. Malik leaking a purported birth certificate of his son on Twitter allegedly posing that he is a Muslim.
Advocate for Mr. Wankhede told the court that everyday something or the other was put by Mr. Malik on Twitter and that today it was about his son’s sister-in-law.
Senior advocate Atul Damle, for the Minister, raised objections to the maintainability of the suit and sought two-three days to reply. The court, however, directed Mr. Malik to reply tomorrow and adjourned the hearing to November 10.
The Bench remarked, “If you can reply on Twitter, then you better reply here also.”
The suit states, “Mr Malik has caused irreparable loss, damage, harm, prejudice to the name, character, reputation and societal image to Mr. Wankhede’s family.”
Meanwhile, a magistrate court in Mumbai on Monday issued notice to Mr. Malik in a criminal defamation complaint filed by BJP leader Mohit Bharatiya that states the Minister has defamed Mr. Bharatiya and his brother-in-law.
