The Mumbai City Civil Court on Wednesday refused interim relief to Salman Khan in his defamation suit filed against Ketan Kakkad and others, alleging that they had made derogatory remarks against him and his family, over an unsuccessful land sale transaction.
In January, Khan had filed an application for urgent relief seeking to block, suspend or withdraw the social media accounts where the alleged derogatory content had been shared. The actor claimed that false, disparaging and defamatory statements were made through a series of videos, posts and tweets, that caused harm and loss to him, his family members and his business ventures.
According to Khan’s suit, Kakkad had attempted to purchase a plot of land beside the actor’s farmhouse at Panvel in the Raigad district of Maharashtra. But, the authorities cancelled the transaction on grounds that it was illegal. Following this, Kakkad allegedly raised false and baseless accusations that Khan and his family members were behind the failed transaction.
Kakkad’s attorney, Abha Singh, opposed the interim relief sought by Khan on Wednesday, arguing that her client’s statements revolved around facts about Khan’s property, which could not amount to defamation. She argued that it was a land dispute under the garb of a defamation suit.
Further, Singh alleged that Khan’s counsel had approached Kakkad offering him money to give up the Panvel land and that the present suit was filed after Kakkad had refused the offer.
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Along with Kakkad, the suit also named other individuals and social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube and their Indian counterparts. Counsel for these platforms also opposed the relief stating that they had no control over what was posted by users on their platforms. It was also pointed out that scanning through all the content on their websites to remove defamatory remarks against Khan was “unreasonable and meaningless.”
After hearing all arguments, the judge rejected relief to Khan and stated that the reasons for rejection would follow in an order.