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Siya Goyal’s lawyer serves ₹10-cr defamation notice to her brother
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Ashutosh Srivastava said his team has been legally authorised by Siya Goyal to represent her, and he dismissed claims by her family questioning his appointment as her lawyer.
Pune: In the Ketan Agarwal murder case, advocate Ashutosh Srivastava, who represents the accused, Siya Goyal, has issued a ₹10 crore defamation notice to her brother, Sahil Goyal, over alleged false and misleading statements regarding her legal representation.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Srivastava said his team has been legally authorised by Siya Goyal to represent her, and he dismissed claims by her family questioning his appointment as her lawyer.
Srivastava alleged that Sahil’s statements were an attempt to mislead the public and damage the reputation of his law firm.
“We have sent a ₹10 crore defamation notice to Sahil Goyal because we heard a statement from him in which he stated completely false facts, lied and attempted to mislead the public,” Srivastava said.
He said there had been no communication between his office and Sahil Goyal.
“We have absolutely nothing to do with Sahil Goyal. We have neither spoken to him nor had any communication with him on any subject. There have been no emails exchanged either. A statement of this nature is highly irresponsible, defamatory and an attack on the legal fraternity,” he added.
On Monday, while speaking to the media, Sahil had claimed that the family had appointed another lawyer to represent his sister Siya. He had also alleged that he had received threats from Srivastava.
Refuting the claims, Srivastava said all legal procedures related to Siya Goyal’s defence had been completed as per the law. He said Siya had personally signed and authorised the necessary legal documents, including the vakalatnama, which has already been filed before the court.
He further claimed that Siya had authorised his team to handle her representation in the Bombay High Court.
Srivastava said that as an accused, Siya has the right to choose her lawyer, but any change in legal representation has to follow due procedure. He added that a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the existing lawyer is required before appointing a new counsel.
Srivastava demanded an immediate retraction and apology from Sahil Goyal, stating that he had no legal authority to interfere with or comment on his sister’s choice of defence counsel.
