The Bombay High Court has set aside the single-bench order of Justice Madhav Jamdar which held that Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik can speak against NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede since he is a public officer.

A single-judge bench will conduct a fresh hearing of Sameer Wankhede’s father Dnyandev’s defamation suit against Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik twelve weeks from now, that is, by March 28.

Until then, Nawab Malik’s statement on not saying anything against the Wankhedes will remain in place. Nawab Malik drafted his statement after a division bench of Justices SJ Kathawala and Milind Jadhav came down heavily on him.

On Monday, advocates Dr Birendra Saraf and Diwakar Rai, representing Wankhede, said the draft consent agreement given by Nawab Malik was fine. With the agreement in force, the order passed earlier by Justice Jamdar was set aside.

By December 9, Nawab Malik will give a reply to the interim application in the suit filed by Wankhede. The court has given Wankhede time till January 3 to file a rejoinder.

The court, lastly, said, “All rights and contentions of both parties are kept open.”

WHAT HAD JUSTICE JAMDAR SAID?

When the case was first file, Justice Jamdar had held that Nawab Malik can speak against NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede since he is a public officer. The judge, however, asked Nawab Malik to do reasonable verification before putting out social media posts or speaking against the Wankhedes.

Justice Jamdar heard the suit at length and held that Nawab Malik made defamatory statements due to malice and animosity and that he should have shown due diligence of verification before speaking against Wankhede.

Wankhede immediately filed an appeal against Justice Jamdar’s order. He said, “When the judge had made these two observations, then how come the court did not pass an order in our favour?”

Later, Nawab Malik’s lawyers filed draft consent terms expressing his willingness to get Justice Jamdar’s order denying interim relief to Dnyandev Wankhede quashed in favour of a fresh hearing.