The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it would pass an order on November 22 in a defamation suit filed by Narcotics Control Bureau’s zonal director Sameer Wankhede’s father against Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik.
A single Bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar allowed Mr. Malik to file additional documents and took them on record in his chamber. The court then said the order would be passed on Monday at 5.30 p.m.
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The suit filed by Dhyandeo Wankhede seeks damages of Rs. 1.25 crore for alleged defamatory statements. It mentions Mr. Malik as leaking a purported birth certificate of his son on Twitter allegedly posing that he is a Muslim. It adds that something or the other was put by Mr. Malik on Twitter and that today it was about his son’s sister-in-law.
Mr. Wankhede is seeking an injunction from court to direct Mr. Malik to not post any defamatory or derogatory statements and social media posts against his family.
Mr. Wankhede filed an affidavit with 28 documents to show his name is Dhyandeo and not Dawood, as alleged by the Nationalist Congress Party leader.
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Photos and WhatsApp chats
Referring to photos and WhatsApp chats, advocate Arshad Shaikh, appearing for Mr. Wankhede, told the court that there were apps available that could manipulate images and chats. A perception was being created that Mr. Sameer Wankhede was an extortionist and bogus because of which the family was attacked.
Senior advocate Atul Damle, representing Mr. Malik, had previously shown the court that the documents relied on public websites and whatever had been reposted had been taken from the social media accounts. He said, “In the suit and in the additional affidavit, Mr. Wankhede has categorically stated that he does not have the original birth certificate nor a photocopy.”
An affidavit filed by Mr. Malik said, “He has sufficient evidence to prove allegations against Sameer Wankhede.”