HC dismisses Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s ₹100-crore suit against brother, ex-wife

A single-judge bench of justice Jitendra Jain dismissed the suit since the actor and his lawyer were not present in court to take it forward.

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a ₹100-crore defamation suit filed by actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui against his brother, Shamasuddin Siddiqui, and his ex-wife, Anjana Pandey, for allegedly misappropriating ₹21 crore from his bank accounts and defaming him in the media.

In this picture taken on June 16, 2022, Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui attends the ‘Style Icons Awards’ ceremony in Mumbai. (Photo by SUJIT JAISWAL / AFP) (AFP)

A single-judge bench of justice Jitendra Jain dismissed the suit since the actor and his lawyer were not present in court to take it forward. A detailed copy of the court order is yet to be published.

The case dates back to 2008, when Siddiqui appointed his brother, Shamasuddin Siddiqui, as his manager to handle his bank accounts, do audits, file his income tax returns, and pay other taxes and duties. However, Nawazuddin alleged that, over time, he found out that Shamasuddin had been buying joint properties in both their names by misappropriating funds from the former’s bank accounts.

While Shamasuddin informed Nawazuddin that the properties were bought in his name, the documents told a different story, the actor’s petition said. The properties bought included plots, flats, and farmhouses at prominent locations like Versova in Mumbai and Dubai.

When Nawazuddin questioned his brother about this, Shamasuddin allegedly instigated the actor’s ex-wife, Pandey, to file a false case against him. Subsequently, several “false applications and FIRs” were filed against Nawazuddin, over allegations like rape and cheating, his petition said.

The actor also claimed that before he and Pandey got married, he was told that she was a Muslim and unmarried, but he later found out that she was a Hindu and already married to someone else.

Nawazuddin further alleged that his brother and ex-wife did all this to defraud him. “They have misappropriated more than ₹21 crore from the account of the plaintiff. He was shocked to find out that if people from his own family are of such nature, then who can he trust,” the petition said.

The actor claimed that Shamasuddin had developed a modus operandi to damage his brother’s image and, therefore, kept recording every important conversation, officially or unofficially.

“He is in possession of various videos and voice notes, which are personal in nature. This was done with the sole intention that if the fraud is uncovered in future, then the defendant will use these private conversations, videos and the information against the actor to shut his mouth,” the petition said. It added that his brother had also failed to file his income tax returns and pay the necessary Goods and Services Tax (GST), resulting in dues of ₹37 crore.

Nawazuddin also alleged that his brother and his ex-wife instigated his family members to give false statements to the media with the sole intention of defaming him in society. This has resulted in postponements and delays in his film projects because of the negative environment, his petition said.

“The plaintiff is in a very dangerous position in his life, where he has developed trauma and depression. He is not getting any new films because of this negative atmosphere being created by his own family. They are working as a syndicate to spread misinformation against him, which has brought his 23 years of hard work and reputation to ground”, the petition added.

Nawazuddin sought directions from the court to restrict his brother, his ex-wife and their agents from posting defamatory articles about him and demanded ₹100 crore as compensation.

However, since Nawazuddin and his lawyer were not present in court, the bench dismissed the suit due to “non-prosecution”. This means the actor and his lawyer failed to take the necessary steps to proceed with the case.

Advocates Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh, Snigdha Khandelwal, and Farid Shaikh, representing Shamasuddin, said that Nawazuddin’s whole case was baseless and there were no justified claims. “It was only filed to pressurise my client in their personal financial disputes,” said Deshmukh.