'Prove Claims by Nawab Malik Are False': Bombay HC to Sameer Wankhede's Father

The Bombay HC said that as a public official, the public has the right to examine Sameer Wankhede.

File photo of NCB officer Sameer Wankhede.

(Photo: Anupam Gautam/IANS)

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday, 10 November, asked Dnyandev Wankhede, the father of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Officer Sameer Wankhede, to prove that tweets by National Congress Party (NCP) minister Nawab Malik against his son were false.

A single judge bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar told him that it is up to the father to prove that what Malik is saying is incorrect, reported NDTV, saying that as a public official, the public has the right to examine the NCB officer.

"You have to prove prima facie that what he is saying is false. The son is not an individual. He is a public official and any member of the public can examine him... Show me every tweet and how according to you it is false," the judge added.

The high court also asked Malik to submit an affidavit showing that he had verified the claims he had tweeted about Sameer Wankhede being born a Muslim as well as his birth certificate, according to Live Law.

"I want an affidavit from you that the information is verified. It can be a one-page affidavit," the court stated, according to NDTV.

The statements came while the court was hearing Wankhede's defamation suit against Malik. Wankhede has sought Rs 1.25 crore in damages from Malik for making defamatory statements, starting from the latter sharing Sameer Wankhede’s birth certificate on social media, and alleging that his father is a Muslim.

In the suit, Dhyandev Wankhede, the plaintiff, claimed that the remarks against the Wankhede family by Malik, either oral or written, were “tortious and defamatory”.

Apart from the Rs 1.25 crore, Wankhede has requested the court to ensure that Malik deletes the defamatory statements, press releases, and tweets about his family, and has also sought preventive measures for the same.

(With inputs from NDTV and Live Law.)