Salman Khan sends defamation notice to lawyer of accused in firing case

The notice was issued in reference to an article published by a news agency on September 4, which referred to a statement made by lawyer Amit Mishra, representing Vicky Kumar Gupta, that his client and co-accused Sagar Pal were getting threats from Dawood’s henchmen

MUMBAI: Actor Salman Khan has issued a legal notice to the lawyer of one of the two men accused of firing at his residence in April for allegedly making false and defamatory statements against him with an intent to malign his image. This was after the lawyer reportedly said during a media interview that the actor had links with fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s gang.

Mumbai, India, July 13, 2024: Indian actor Salman Khan attending the blessings ceremony of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant at the Jio World Convention Centre in BKC, Mumbai. July 13, 2024. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

The notice was issued in reference to an article published by a news agency on September 4, which referred to a statement made by lawyer Amit Mishra, representing Vicky Kumar Gupta, that his client and co-accused Sagar Pal were getting threats from Dawood’s henchmen. Mishra told the news agency that Khan had known relations with Dawood’s gang and wanted to get the two accused killed, as per allegations made by Gupta and Pal. In the interview, the lawyer also said Gupta and Pal had written to the central government, the Maharashtra government and the Bihar government for protection.

“The allegations are absolutely false, baseless, malicious, grossly defamatory/derogatory, misleading, damaging and are made with an intent to malign the image and goodwill of our client before the public at large, which our client has painstakingly developed by him over the years,” stated the notice issued by Khan’s lawyers.

The notice also said that Gupta’s and Pal’s allegations were misconceived and used by the media organisation and Mishra to gather sympathy from the public. It added that the matter amounts to an offence punishable under Section 356 (criminal defamation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Khan’s legal team has asked the news agency to take down the article from its website and not publish any “defamatory/derogatory remarks” against the actor in the future. Khan has also sought an unconditional apology from the lawyer and the news agency.

Gupta and Pal are among the nine accused in the firing incident outside Khan’s residence, which took place on April 14 this year. According to the police, Gupta was riding a bike with Pal as the pillion rider, before the latter opened fire towards Khan’s house. The firing was allegedly orchestrated by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, supervised by the gangster’s Canada-based brother Anmol Bishnoi.