Salman Khan defamation case: Bombay High Court reserves order on actor's plea against civil court

The Bombay High Court has reserved its order on a plea filed by actor Salman Khan against a Mumbai court order, refusing to issue him an interim relief in a defamation case.

The Bombay High Court has reserved its order on a plea filed by actor Salman Khan against a Mumbai court, which had refused to issue him interim relief in a defamation case filed by him against his Panvel farmhouse neighbour Ketan Kakkar.

Actor Salman Khan has been embroiled in a legal battle over his Panvel farmhouse (Photo by SUJIT JAISWAL / AFP) (AFP)

A sessions court in Mumbai had earlier refused to pass a restraining order against Ketan Kakkar. After this, Salman had moved the Bombay High Court. On Tuesday, the High Court, after hearing the matter, reserved its order. The verdict will be delivered soon.

The case stems from Ketan's social media posts about Salman Khan and his family, which the actor has called defamatory. In his plea before the High Court, Salman said Ketan's posts are not only defamatory and derogatory against him but also communally biased and create a communal divide.

Salman owns a 100-acre farm in Panvel and Ketan owns the adjoining property. In his social media posts, Ketan has alleged Salman and his family carry out illegal activities at the farm, and also alleged encroachment on the actor's part.

Notably, Ketan has claimed that around 1995, he and his wife had acquired a certain plot of land near Salman's farmhouse. He added that the plot of land allotted to him was allegedly cancelled by the Maharashtra forest department at the behest and in collusion with Salman. He claimed that the entry and exit to his plot of land were illegally acquired and blocked by constructing a gate, done by Salman. He also claimed Salman and his family usurped a Ganpati temple he had built on the property.

Salman, in his complaint, contended that, in fact, the defendants are inciting communal violence and Hindu-Muslim hatred by making provocative, baseless and false statements based on religion, which are absolutely irrelevant and absurd.

In March, Sessions Court refused to pass an injunction order against Ketan in the defamation case filed by Salman for the former's social media posts. The verdict identified Ketan's actions as those of a whistle-blower, stating that he had placed on record evidence like complaints and show-cause notices to Salman about the allegations of encroachments by the actor in his Panvel property. In August, Salman approached the Bombay High Court.

(With ANI inputs)