Won’t make any statement defaming Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt: Livuena Lodh assures HC

Advocate Prashant Pandey, who represented the actor, made the statement while responding to a defamation suit filed by Bhatt brothers, seeking damages of Rs 1 crore from the actor

Actor Livuena Lodh on Monday assured the Bombay high court that she will not make any defamatory and scandalous statement about film director Mahesh Bhatt and his producer brother Mukesh Bhatt.

Mumbai - Bombay High Court. Photo by Girish Srivastava/HT 08-01-02

Advocate Prashant Pandey, who represented the actor, made the statement while responding to a defamation suit filed by Bhatt brothers, seeking damages of Rs. 1 crore from the actor.

Senior advocate VR Dhond, who appeared for Bhatt brothers, mentioned an interim application filed in the suit for urgent hearing on Monday afternoon and pressed for urgent interim injunction against Lodh saying the actor was about to take a press conference and Bhatt brothers apprehended that she will reiterate the defamatory allegations.

Justice AK Menon, however, refused to accept the request. “How can I restrain somebody from holding a press conference. How can you gag somebody like this,” asked justice Menon.

Dhond, however, insisted for an interim order. The senior advocate pointed out the cause of action - a video of Lodh’s interview uploaded on Instagram on October 23, in which she has leveled serious allegations against both, Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt.

Refuting that Lodh’s husband was not related to Bhatts, Dhond submitted that the Bhatts were unnecessarily dragged in the actor’s matrimonial dispute with her husband. He asserted that the allegations were per se defamatory and therefore Lodh was required to be restrained from making any such statements.

Advocate Pandey opposed the request, by pointing out that the purportedly defamatory statements are directed against the actor’s husband, and the Bhatts are mentioned only to the effect that they were knowing her husband’s activities. He added that Lodh had filed a domestic violence complaint against her husband and she was willing to justify and make good the allegations.

Justice Menon, however, noted that even the actor did not intend to defame Bhatt brothers and directed her from making any defamatory and scandalous allegations against them and also from further circulating the video uploaded on Instagram.

HC, however, refused to direct Lodh to remove the offending video from her Instagram account, so that it is not further circulated some other person, after Pandey strenuously opposed the prayer. In this Pandey had complained that he was given notice about urgent hearing on the plea just a few minutes back and interim orders could not be passed by court without granting the actor opportunity to respond to the interim application.

HC has now directed Lodh to file affidavit in reply to the suit and the interim application in four weeks. The court has granted two weeks thereafter to Bhatt brothers to file their rejoinder to her affidavits.