Nawab Malik has termed the cruise drugs case as ‘fake’. file
Mumbai:
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik today told the Bombay High Court that the defamation suit filed against him by Dhyandev Wankhede, father of NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, was only an attempt to cover up “illegalities” committed by an IRS officer and claimed that None of these claims were made. His statements against him were false.
Mr Malik submitted an affidavit in the High Court in response to the defamation suit filed by Dhyandev Wankhede, seeking damages of Rs 1.25 crore as well as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader for any wrong or wrongdoing against him. The order was given to stop making false statements. Wankhede family which will defame or damage their reputation.
However, the minister said in his affidavit that none of the statements made by him were false and the evidence presented by him helped the government machinery to take corrective steps against Sameer Wankhede, who is handling some high-profile cases. Were. Till recently, a drug case in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan is also an accused.
“Sameer Wankhede is facing vigilance inquiry and the Director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has transferred a total of six cases from Mumbai unit headed by Regional Director Sameer Wankhede to his unit in Delhi,” the affidavit said.
“Thus initiation of action against Sameer Wankhede shows the authenticity of the evidence produced by the respondent (Malik),” the NCP leader said. an administrative employee.
The affidavit said, “Plaintiff (Dhyandev Wankhede), by filing the present suit, is trying to curtail the freedom of expression granted to the Respondent under Article 19 of the Constitution of India, to be used by the Respondent for the good of the public.” does.”
It said that the defamation suit is nothing but an attempt to hide the “illegalities” committed by the petitioner Dhyandev Wankhede’s son Samir Wankhede.
Malik sought quashing of the defamation suit and said it was not maintainable as the petitioner was seeking relief not only for himself but also for his family members.
The NCP leader, who has accused Sameer Wankhede of forgery to lying about his religion, said the petitioner cannot file a representative suit on behalf of his family members.
“The family members of the plaintiff have not initiated any legal proceedings contrary to the evidence produced by the respondent (Malik),” the affidavit said.
The 62-year-old politician said he had not made any false statements and presented documentary evidence in support of his claims. “In these circumstances, it is humbly submitted that the authenticity and admissibility of the evidence presented by the respondent can be decided only at the stage of trial,” the affidavit said.
It said Dhyandev has failed to produce any documentary evidence to support his claims in the Wankhede trial that the statements made by Malik are false.
“I have produced the birth certificate of (Malik) plaintiff’s son Samir Wankhede to show that Samir Wankhede is a Muslim by birth and has secured a government job by falsely claiming to be from a Scheduled Caste,” the affidavit said. ” .
It said that as per the birth certificate, which is issued by the municipal corporation, Sameer Wankhede’s father’s name is shown as Dawood Wankhede and religious identity as Muslim.
“I state that if the said birth certificate issued by the Municipal Corporation is false then it is up to the plaintiff or Sameer Wankhede to take corrective steps and proceed with the civic authorities. If the birth certificate is false then to produce the plaintiff Should have had the correct birth certificate,” the affidavit said.
It further said that the petitioner has failed to show how the statements made by Mr. Malik were defamatory or defamatory.
The minister further said that several others, including a witness in the drugs-on-cruise case, have leveled allegations of attempted extortion against 2008-batch IRS officer Sameer Wankhede.
A vacation bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar will hear the matter on Wednesday.
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction declaring Malik’s statements as defamatory and restraining the NCP leader from making or publishing the statement to the media, including his social media accounts.
The suit states that Malik’s statement that Mr Wankhede is a Muslim amounts to questioning the family’s religious beliefs that they are not Hindu.
It claimed that Mr Malik’s statements caused irreparable damage, damage, damage, prejudice to the name, character, reputation and social image of the Wankhede family.
The suit also sought a direction to the Minister of State to withdraw all the defamatory statements made by him so far and to delete his tweets posted against the petitioner and his family members.
Sameer Wankhede had led a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast last month following which the NCB claimed to have seized drugs on the ship.
Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan and 19 others were later arrested in the cruise drugs case. Some of the accused, including Aryan Khan, are currently out on bail.
Mr Malik has repeatedly labeled the cruise drugs case as “fake” and made several allegations against the IRS officer, who has denied his allegations.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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