Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has issued notice to Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik, directed him to submit an affidavit in a petition filed by Dhyandev Wankhede, father of Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal director Sameer Wankhede.

The vacation bench headed by Justice Madhav Jamdar directed the Maharashtra minister to file his affidavit by Tuesday, court adjourns the hearing to Wednesday.

While hearing the petition, the court observed that "you (Nawab Malik) file your reply by tomorrow. If you can reply on Twitter, you can reply here also," Justice Jamdar said, however, court has refused to restrain Mr Malik from making any further statements against the petitioner

Advocate Arshad Shaikh, appearing for Dhyandev Wankhede, submitted that every day some false and defamatory statement is being made by the defendant (Nawab Malik) which then leads to further comments on social media that are further defamatory.

“Just this morning, the defendant has posted a tweet about Sameer Wankhede's sister-in-law,” Shaikh argued, adding that at least till the matter is heard, the court should either direct Mr Malik or he should himself restrain from making any further statements.

Nawab Malik's advocate Atul Damle, while seeking time to file an affidavit to the suit, told the court that the plaintiff cannot speak on behalf of his adult children and also cannot attribute to the NCP leader what other persons have commented on social media.

Dhyandev Wankhede filed a defamation petition seeking damages to the tune of ₹ 1.25 crore from Mr Malik for allegedly making defamatory comments against his son Sameer Wankhede and his family through press conferences and via social media.

Petitioner has submitted that Nawab Malik's statements as defamatory in nature and seeking permanent injunction restraining the NCP leader from publishing or making statements before the media, including his social media accounts.

Nawab Malik has alleged that Wankhede is a Muslim amounted to questioning the religious beliefs of the family by disputing that they are not Hindus.

Petitioner submitted that Malik's statements caused an irreparable loss, damage, harm, prejudice to the name, character, reputation and societal image of Wankhede and his family.