Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede is a 'public officer' and his actions can be scrutinised by anyone, the Bombay high court said on Wednesday while hearing a defamation suit filed by his father against Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik.
Dnyandev Wankhede, Sameer's father, has sought damages of Rs 1.25 crore from Malik and an order restraining him from making further false or incorrect statements against the Wankhede family.
The Nationalist Congress Party leader has levelled a series of allegations against Sameer Wankhede, accusing him, among other things, of forging his birth certificate to get a government job.
During the hearing, Dnyandev Wankhede's lawyer Arshad Shaikh asked why Sameer should provide any justifications to a person who is 'just an MLA and not a court'.
To which, Justice Madhav Jamdar said, "You are a public officer....you just need to prove that the tweets (posted by Malik) are prima facie false....Your son is not only an individual, but a public officer and can be examined by any member of public."
On the other hand, the court also asked Malik's lawyer Atul Damle, "Is it not your duty to verify the documents before posting? Have you verified the authenticity of the documents as a responsible citizen and spokesperson of a national party?"
Wankhede's lawyer then sought time to file an additional affidavit to establish that Malik's allegations were false.
The court granted him time till Friday, and also asked the NCP leader's lawyer to file an affidavit to the effect that he had verified the documents (related to Sameer Wankhede's personal details) before posting them on Twitter or publishing them.
The matter was posted for further hearing on November 12.
Dnyandev Wankhede's suit said that Malik's claim that he was Muslim amounted to questioning religious beliefs of the family, and the minister's allegations had caused an irreparable damage to the family's reputation.
It also sought a direction to Malik to withdraw all 'defamatory statements' and tweets about the Wankhede family.
Sameer Wankhede last month led a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast during which the NCB allegedly seized drugs and arrested Aryan Khan, actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, and 19 others.
Malik alleged that the whose raid was bogus. He also claimed that Sameer Wankhede was born a Muslim as his father had converted to Islam, but later Sameer forged his birth certificate to get a job in the Scheduled Castes quota and stated falsely that he was Hindu.
The NCB official has denied the allegations.
