Actor Salman Khan informed the Bombay High Court on Friday that his neighbour in Panvel, where he owns a farmhouse, had posted films on social media that were not only insulting or defamatory but also created bias within the community and were inflammatory.
The actor appealed a March city civil court decision that had denied him relief in connection with a defamation lawsuit he had brought against NRI Ketan Kakkad and others for posting on social media videos about the actor’s alleged activities in his Panvel farmhouse. Justice C V Bhadang was currently hearing the actor’s appeal.
The High Court requested that the actor provide transcriptions of the allegedly defamatory remarks made by Kakkad, including the claim that Khan belongs to don Dawood Ibrahim’s gang.
The Dabangg actor had filed a defamation lawsuit before the city civil court about the videos Kakkad had posted on social media, asking the court to order Kakkad to take them down and enjoin him from making such remarks in the future. The actor had petitioned the HC after the civil court declined to issue an injunction order.
Through his attorneys Abha Singh and Aditya Pratap, Kakkad had informed the trial court that Khan had brought a defamation lawsuit in an effort to intimidate him into giving up the fight for his Panvel land.
The films produced by Kakkad, according to senior attorney Ravi Kadam, who is representing Khan, are recklessly hypothetical. In addition to being libellous, they also incite viewers’ animosity toward the Sultan actor on a community level.
In reference to the videos’ script, Kadam said that Kakkad mentions Khan as a member of a marginalised group attempting to annex a Ganesh temple in Panvel close to his land.
“Kakkad compares the actor to Babar and Aurangzeb and claims that although the Ayodhya Temple took 500 years to develop, Salman Khan is currently attempting to close a Ganesh temple. Millions of fans watch these videos and then remark negatively on Salman Khan. It is obvious that this is inciting the public against Salman. Hindus and Muslims are now at odds because of the films, according to Kadam.
The damages must be paid to him, he said, because Kakkad had also published defamatory statements such “Khan is engaging in drug, organ, and child trafficking from his home.”
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