Bombay High Court seeks response from Nawab Malik in ₹1,000 crore defamation suit by bank

The Bombay High Court on Monday sought response from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik in a defamation suit filed by Mumbai District Central Co-operative Bank seeking ₹1000 crore as damages..The Bank stated in its suit that Malik and others had put up hoardings containing scathing and defamatory remarks against the bank with a view to malign and degrade its image.“It is prima facie with an intention to harm the reputation and integrity of the Bank. By said hoardings, the image of the Bank is sought to be tarnished before the public at large, thereby, harming the Bank’s operation and business,” the suit stated.The hoardings allegedly intended to create an impression that the bank is corrupt and their deposits are not safe, it was submitted..Advocate Akhilesh Chaubey appearing for the bank, informed the Court that in July this year, a number of hoardings had appeared at busy intersections in Mumbai containing defamatory statements against the bank which jeopardized their reputation.The bank purportedly issued legal notices to Malik and others for taking down the hoardings and also sought public apology..In his response, Malik categorically denied putting up posters at said locations and for this reason refused to tender any kind of apology.He added that neither him, nor any member from his party were involved in the installation of the hoardings.He asked the bank to withdraw its notice issued to him alleging that the bank was trying to impute false allegations against him..The Bank then proceeded to file the present suit seeking damages in High Court.The suit prays for directions to Malik:to forthwith post a complete and unconditional apology to the bank;to retract allegations against the bank made through the defamatory hoardings;publish the complete apology to the bank in a Marathi newspaper;to pay to the bank after final decree a sum of ₹1000 crore as damages..The interim application in the suit came up for hearing on Monday, when Justice Riyaz I Chagla granted 6 weeks time to Malik and other defendants to respond to the plea.