Sameer Wankhede's father Dnyandev files breach of defamation against NCP's Nawab Malik

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede’s father Dnyandev Wankhede on Monday filed a breach of defamation against NCP leader Nawab Malik in the Bombay HC. Sources have reported that Wankhede’s father has attached a transcript of three interviews that Malik has given to news channels alleging that he has breached his consent terms after having given an undertaking before the court.

During the last hearing which took place on November 25, Nawab Malik's lawyer gave an undertaking to the Bombay High Court promising that his client will not make statements against the Wankhede family until the next date of hearing i.e December 9. The division bench of the HC had also slammed Malik for allegedly seeking publicity and questioned whether his comments befitted his stature as a minister. 

Now, Dnyandev Wankhede has alleged that Malik has breached this undertaking, and has approached the Bombay HC regarding the same. The hearing is expected to come up on December 7 and is slotted at serial no 16, Republic Media Network has learned.

Defamation case against Nawab Malik

In his defamation suit, Dnyandev Wankhede had claimed that Nawab Malik started making allegations against his son after his son-in-law Sameer Khan was arrested by the central agency in a drugs case. Besides seeking damages to the tune of Rs1.25 crore, he had requested the HC to order the deletion of the defamatory material and restrain the NCP leader from making such comments.

So far, apart from the formal undertaking, Justice Madhav Jamdar has also directed Malik to conduct "reasonable verification" of facts before publishing or speaking anything which amounts to defamation of the Wankhede family.

While several personal and professional allegations had been levelled against Sameer Wankhede by Malik, in a deeply personal attack, the NCP leader had claimed that Wankhede's father Dnyandev was actually 'Dnyandev Dawood Wankhede', a Muslim by birth. Malik had alleged that his name had been changed to obtain a caste certificate, using which Sameer became an IRS officer via 'reserve category'. 

In October, amid the constant slandering by Nawab Malik, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) found that Sameer Wankhede's caste certificates were original, busting the former's claims.