HC judge unable to pass order on Salman's plea in defamation case against neighbour
Mumbai (PTI): A judge of the Bombay High Court on Thursday said it would not be possible to pronounce order on an appeal filed by actor Salman Khan in a defamation case against his neighbour due to the paucity of time.
Khan's plea will now be heard afresh by another judge. Justice C V Bhadang, who had heard the arguments in the case and reserved his order, is retiring on Friday. Khan's appeal would now be placed before another judge after the Diwali vacation and heard afresh.
Justice Bhadang had in August begun the hearing on the appeal filed by the actor against a lower court order of March 2022. The lower court had refused to restrain Ketan Kakkad, who owns land near Khan's farmhouse at Panvel, from posting derogatory video posts against the actor.
It had also refused to direct Kakkad to delete his earlier YouTube videos. On October 11, Justice Bhadang closed the matter for orders after arguments were over.
"Unfortunately I am unable to complete the judgement. I tried my level best till last evening. But unfortunately there was vacation and then administrative work, and I had other assignments. I will have to list this as part heard," the HC judge said on Thursday.
"I understand the apprehension of the parties and that substantial time and efforts went into this. I would have loved to decide this case either way. Unfortunately this came at the fag end of my career," he added.
The Bollywood star has filed a defamation suit against Kakkad in the lower court over videos uploaded by Kakkad on social media about Khan's activities at his farmhouse in Panvel near Mumbai.
When the civil court refused to pass any interim restraining orders against Kakkad, Khan moved the HC.
The posts uploaded by Kakkad were not only defamatory but also communal and provocative in nature, his plea said.
Kakkad's lawyers Abha Singh and Aditya Singh claimed that the defamation suit was filed by the actor to pressurize their client to give up his land.
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'Warm and engaging atmosphere reigned', Shashi Tharoor on Putin banquet
New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who on Friday attended a banquet for Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, on Saturday described the atmosphere there as "warm" and "engaging", and said he enjoyed his conversations with many of the attendees.
Tharoo’s remarks came a day after President Droupadi Murmu hosted a banquet for the visiting Russian president at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
“Attended the @rashtrapatibhvn banquet for President Putin last night. A warm and engaging atmosphere reigned. Enjoyed my conversations with many of the attendees, especially my dining companions from the Russian delegation!" Tharoor said in a social media post.
Murmu, while welcoming President Putin and his delegation at the banquet, had said that his visit marked an important milestone -- the 25th anniversary of the India-Russia strategic partnership, which was established in October 2000 during his first visit to the country as president.
Murmu also appreciated Putin's support and personal commitment to the India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership.
The Congress on Friday said that the leaders of the opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, were not invited to the banquet, and took a swipe at Tharoor for accepting the invite.
The party’s media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera, accused the government of breaking protocols daily and not believing in democratic principles.
“There is no invite to both the LoPs, Mr (Mallikarjun) Kharge and Mr (Rahul) Gandhi. This comes as a surprise, but I don't think we should be surprised. This government is known to be breaching all protocols. What else to say, ask the government,” Khera said on Friday.
Asked about Tharoor accepting the invite for the banquet, Khera said, "Ask Mr Tharoor. All of us who are in the party, if our leaders don't get invited and we get invited, we need to question our own conscience and listen to our conscience. Politics has been played in inviting or not inviting people, which in itself is questionable, and those who accept such an invite are also questionable."
“We would have listened to our voice of conscience,” he added.
Earlier, Tharoor had said that there was a time when the chairman of the external affairs committee was routinely invited, but that practice seems to have stopped some years ago.
On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the leader of opposition due to its "insecurity".
His remarks came hours ahead of Putin's two-day visit to India.
