HC junks contempt plea by Sameer Wankhede's father against Nawab Malik
'Ever since the high-profile arrest of Bollywood celebrity Aryan Khan by Sameer Wankhede, Nawab Malik – as part of a concerted sustained campaign actuated by personal animosity, malice and vendetta – published various defamatory material against the Wankhedes through his social media accounts and press interviews,' the petition said.
On October 3, 2021, when Sameer Wankhede was zonal director with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the agency seized drugs on board the Cordelia cruise ship off Mumbai coast and arrested Shah Rukh's son Aryan Khan and several others who were present on the ship.
Advocate Sana Raees Khan, representing Dyandev Wankhede, highlighted Malik's X post dated December 28, 2021, where he referred to Sameer Wankhede as 'Sameer Dawood Wankhede'. Again on January 2 and 3, 2022, Malik allegedly spoke about the family in a derogatory manner during an interview.
Subsequently, on February 8, 2022, the high court issued a show cause notice to Malik over the alleged violations of court orders.
Advocate Khan urged the court to punish the NCP leader for contempt of court.
However, Malik's counsel argued that the statements were harmless and made without any malafide intentions to violate the court's order.
The division bench of justices GS Kulkarni and Arif S Doctor then dismissed the petition, saying Malik's tweets and statements did not amount to breach of the court's order. Since the statements were made during the pendency of another suit against him, it would not be appropriate for the court to exercise its contempt jurisdiction, the judges observed.
'We are not satisfied that such statements amount to any breach. Considering the above situation, we do not deem it appropriate to exercise our contempt jurisdiction', the bench said.
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