A magistrate court in Mazgaon has summoned state cabinet minister Nawab Malik in a criminal defamation complaint filed by a BJP worker Mohit Bharatiya.
This is the second defamation complaint filed by Bharatiya, who is former head of the party's youth wing, against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader. The complaint arose due to a press conference held by Malik early last month in which he had made allegations against Bharatiya and said he was the mastermind behind the Aryan case and called the case one of 'kidnapping and ransom'. Malik had also said that Wankhede and Bharatiya have very close relations. Aryan was lured to the cruise, the politician had said, in a trap laid through Bharatiya’s brother-in-law.
Metropolitan Magistrate PI Mokashi said in his order while taking cognizance of Bharatiya’s complaint and summoning Malik before it, that the ingredients of the offence of criminal defamation are prima facie proved against him. The magistrate also said that it is prima facie proved by the complainant that the words spoken by the accused were such that they prima-facie harmed the reputation of the complainant.
The court said it had gone through the video clips provided by the complainant in the pendrive. “These documents and video clips produced on record prima facie reveal that the accused has made defamatory statements against the complainant so that it can be seen by the public at large,” the court stated.
Earlier, the court had summoned Malik in the first defamation complaint filed by Bharatiya. Malik had appeared before the court and was granted bail.
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