Bombay High Court asks brother of Nawazuddin Siddiqui to take down alleged defamatory content in view of proposed settlement

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the brother of Nawazuddin Siddiqui to take down any alleged defamatory content posted against the actor in light of the possibility of settlement between the brothers..Justice RI Chagla directed the brothers to remain present in his chambers along with their lawyers on May 3, 2023 to discover a possibility of settlement of their dispute..In the defamation suit filed through Advocate Sunil Kumar, the actor claimed that his brother Shamsuddin and his former wife Anjana Pandey alias Zainab Siddiqui made certain misleading claims about him.Advocate Abhinav Chandrachud, appearing for Siddiqui, pointed out that because there were settlement talks going on between his client and Pandey, there was no relief sought specifically against her..Advocate Rumi Mirza, appearing for Shamsuddin, asked Justice Chagla to use his good offices to settle the case between the brothers. While Chandrachud appreciated the idea, he pointed out that the statements against his client were in the form of online posts by his brother through social media accounts. Chandrachud urged the Court to restrain Shamsuddin from putting up any more defamatory content, and to direct him to take down the existing comments. Mirza added that the actor had passed comments against the brother as well, and hence he also should be restrained from putting out tweets. This was opposed by Chandrachud, who contended that the brother could not seek relief in Siddiqui’s suit alleging defamation without even showing a single post to prove the claim. He made a statement to the Court that Siddiqui had never put out anything defamatory against his brother..Justice Chagla at this point asked both parties to restrain themselves from casting aspersions against each other to maintain equity.“In view of settlement talks, there will not be any posts against each other, there will be no aspersions cast against each other, in view of possibility of amicable settlement. It is to maintain equity between parties so that there are no further posts against each other,” the Court said.The Court also recorded Mirza’s statement that his client will not to post or publish any further tweets of allegedly defamatory nature..In his defamation suit filed in March, Siddiqui sought damages to the tune of ₹100 crore from his brother and his ex-wife.He also prayed for an order of injunction against the two to permanently restrain them from making defamatory statements against him to the media or on any other platform. Further, the actor demanded a public apology from his brother and estranged wife for the defamatory statements made against him.