HC seeks Nawab Malik's response on defamation suit filed by NCB officer Sameer Wankhede's father
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday directed Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik to submit an affidavit in response to a defamation suit filed by Dhyandev Wankhede, the father of Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede.
A vacation bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar asked Malik to file his affidavit by Tuesday, and posted the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.
You (Malik) file your reply by tomorrow. If you can reply on Twitter, you can reply here also, Justice Jamdar said, without passing any order restraining Malik from making any further statements against the plaintiff (Dhyandev Wankhede).
Advocate Arshad Shaikh, appearing for Dhyandev Wankhede, told the court that everyday some false and defamatory statement is being made by the defendant (Malik) which then leads to further comments on social media that are further defamatory.
Just this morning, the defendant has posted a tweet about Sameer Wankhede's sister-in-law, Shaikh argued, adding that at least till the matter is heard, the court should either direct Malik or he should himself restrain from making any further statements.
Malik's advocate Atul Damle, while seeking time to file an affidavit to the suit, told the court that the plaintiff cannot speak on behalf of his adult children and also cannot attribute to Malik what other persons have commented on social media.
Dhyandev Wankhede, in his suit, has sought damages to the tune of Rs 1.25 crore from Malik for allegedly making defamatory comments against his son Sameer Wankhede and family through press conferences and via social media.
The suit has sought an order declaring Malik's statements as defamatory in nature and a permanent injunction restraining the NCP leader from publishing or making statements before the media, including his social media accounts.
The suit stated that the statements by Malik that Wankhede is a Muslim amounted to questioning the religious beliefs of the family by disputing that they are not Hindus.
It claimed that Malik's statements caused an irreparable loss, damage, harm, prejudice to the name, character, reputation and societal image of Wankhede and his family.
The suit also sought directions to Malik to take back all defamatory statements made by him so far and also to delete all his tweets posted against the plaintiff and his family members.
Sameer Wankhede had last month led a raid on a cruise ship and the NCB claimed to have seized drugs onboard.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and 19 others were later arrested in connection with the cruise drugs case.
Malik has repeatedly termed the cruise drugs case as "fake" and levelled a string of allegations against the NCB officer.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
