Nawab Malik's son-in-law sends Rs 5 crore defamation notice to Fadnavis
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik's son-in-law Sameer Khan has sent a Rs five crore defamation notice to former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for making "baseless allegations against him without any merit", and also demanded written apology from him.
A state BJP spokesperson, however, said they will respond to the notice legally.
Nawab Malik's daughter Nilofer Malik Khan posted a snapshot of the legal notice, dated November 10, on her Twitter handle on Thursday.
"False accusations ruin lives. Before one accuses or condemns they must know what they are talking about. This defamation notice is for the false claims & statements which Mr. @Dev_Fadnavis has put on my family. We will not back down," she tweeted.
Sameer Khan was arrested in an alleged drugs case by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in January this year. He was granted bail in September by a court, citing lack of evidence.
In the legal notice to Fadnavis, Sameer Khan's lawyer mentioned that his client was "falsely implicated" in a case lodged by the NCB, which had alleged that he was involved in a drug syndicate. After filing of the charge sheet in July, Khan was released on bail, it said.
But, Fadnavis in a statement to a news channel on November 1 said Malik's son-in-law was "found with drugs in his possession" and that "in whose house drugs were found then what their party will be", it said.
The allegations were "baseless and without any merits", Sameer Khan said in the notice.
The NCB's panchanama clearly says that Khan's house was searched and "no contraband/suspicious substance was found in the house or under his possession", the notice said.
"But from which source you obtained such false, frivolous and baseless report?" Sameer Khan asked.
The notice said Khan was facing continuous mental torture and harassment and not only was he defamed, but his entire family, including wife and children, were equally affected.
Hence, he was demanding Rs five crore as damages for the mental torture, agony, financial loss and injury inflicted to his reputation due to Fadnavis' statements, and also a written apology from the BJP leader over his remarks, as per the notice.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP's chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, Devendra Fadnavis has levelled allegations against Malik's son-in-law based on an ongoing case against him. He was behind bars for eight months.
However, we have decided to respond to his notice legally, Upadhye said.
Nawab Malik had last week sought to link Fadnavis with an alleged narcotics dealer by tweeting the latter's photograph with the former CM and his wife.
Fadnavis later alleged that there was a dubious land deal involving the NCP leader, his family members and two convicts of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. The minister had refuted the allegations.
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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.
