Nawab Malik prima facie violated undertaking: HC
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court (HC) on Tuesday observed that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik had “wilfully breached” the undertaking given by him to the court that he would not make statements against Dnyandev Wankhede, father of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede and his family.
A bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and Milind Jadhav directed the senior NCP leader to file an affidavit before the next hearing on December 10 explaining why the court must not take any adverse action against him for the breach of undertaking.
Dnyandev Wankhede had approached the HC on Monday through senior counsel Birendra Saraf, seeking an urgent hearing. On Tuesday, Saraf submitted portions of an interview that Malik had given recently to a regional newspaper wherein he had made the alleged defamatory comments.
Saraf said that though Malik had reiterated the assurance in the consent terms filed by him for re-hearing of the interim application in the defamation suit on November 29, on two instances he continued his attack on the Wankhede’s.
On perusing the documents, the bench sought to know whether the statements by Malik were made in his personal capacity or as a minister. “If he has done so in his personal capacity then we will summon him here right now,” said the bench.
Advocate Karl Tamboly for Malik on instructions informed the bench that the statements had been made in his capacity as spokesperson of the NCP and not as an individual.
Thereafter the bench observed that prima facie it seemed that Malik has breached the assurance made before the court and directed him to file an affidavit explaining why no action of contempt of court should be taken against him for wilfully breaching the statement recorded in the order.
The appeal filed by Wankhede had been filed challenging the single judge bench order of justice Madhav Jamdar in the interim application in the defamation suit filed against Malik. Wankhede had sought interim injunction against Malik from making any comments or posting anything online till the defamation suit was decided. However the single judge bench had refused to pass any order of injunction against Malik and had directed him to reasonably verify the content pertaining to Wankhede or his family before posting it.
Wankhede had filed the defamation suit after Malik had posted the birth certificate of Sameer Wankhede and claimed that he was a Muslim and also said that his father’s name was Dawood.