Bombay HC sets aside order refusing restraint on Nawab Malik

The order was set aside by the HC after the NCB officer’s father agreed to the consent terms proposed by Nawab Malik for re-hearing of the interim application in the defamation suit

Mumbai A division bench of the Bombay high court (HC) on Monday set aside the single-judge bench order of November 22 which refused to restrain NCP leader and Maharashtra minorities minister Nawab Malik from posting anything against NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede and his family.

Nawab Malik had expressed willingness for setting aside the single-judge bench order on Friday (HT File)

The order was set aside after the NCB officer’s father, Dnyandev Wankhede, agreed to the consent terms proposed by Malik for re-hearing of the interim application in the defamation suit filed by Dnyandev Wankhede against the NCP leader. The proposal came in response to an appeal filed by Wankhede against the single-judge order.

Malik had expressed willingness for setting aside the single-judge bench order on Friday and proposed consent terms before the division bench of Justice S J Kathawalla and Justice Milind Jadhav on Friday. Wankhede’s counsel senior advocate Dr Birendra Saraf had sought time till Monday to respond to the proposed consent terms. On Monday, when the appeal came up for hearing, Dr Saraf informed the bench that Wankhede agreed to the consent terms.

Accordingly, the division bench struck down the single-judge order and remanded the matter back to the single-judge for a fresh hearing of the interim application.

Wankhede who had filed the appeal against November 22 order, had claimed that though there were observations favouring him and his family, the court had failed to restrain Malik from posting anything against them. The order had only directed Malik to reasonably verify the material before posting it online or on any media platform.

The bench hearing the appeal had also noted that the observations by the single judge in his order indicated that the content posted by Malik was malicious and hence there should have been an injunction.

On his part, Malik had also expressed his discontentment with the single-judge bench order and hence placed the draft consent terms showing his willingness for setting aside the single judge bench order, as sought by Wankhede and agreed for re-hearing of the interim application.