In another chapter of the ceaseless case of Raj Kundra and his alleged involvement in a porn racket comes a defamation suit.
The couple, Kundra and his wife Shilpa Shetty Kundra have sued actor Sherlyn Chopra. They demand an apology and ₹50 crore in damages for her very public “lewd, below the belt,” remarks. Chopra had recently accused Kundra of sexual harassment, criminal intimidation and cheating. She had given a statement against Kundra in the earlier stages of the porn racket case.
However, defamation lawsuits are not uncommon in B-town. Here are five times Bollywood celebrities had to seek help from the court of law.
Shilpa Shetty vs The Media
This is not the first defamation case birthed from this chain of events. Prior to this, Shilpa Shetty had filed a ₹25 crore defamation suit against media portals, accusing them of “false reporting and maligning her image,” closely following the arrest of her husband. She also requested the court to mandate that the defendants take down all videos and articles in question, along with issuing an unconditional apology. The court, however, did not grant this wish, citing the “chilling effect,” this could have on the freedom of the press.
Javed Akhtar vs Kangana Ranaut
In another case that you probably already know about, lyricist Javed Akhtar filed a criminal complaint against actor Kangana Ranaut in court for allegedly making ‘defamatory and baseless’ comments against him in one of her TV interviews. He sought legal action against the actress as she allegedly dragged his name in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case besides also alleging his involvement in her highly publicised battle with Hrithik Roshan.
Akhtar was also at the other end of a defamation case recently, filed by Mumbai’s ruling party.
Salman Khan vs Kamaal R Khan
Earlier this year, around May, the Radhe actor had sought action against the self-proclaimed film critic. Advocate Pradeep Gandhi appearing for Salman Khan alleged that Kamaal R Khan, also known as KRK, often posted materials against Salman, his family members, their films and business associations, stating that there was no reason to do so. The lawyer argued that while there is no restriction to comment on a film and the performances in the film, the personal allegations levelled against Salman Khan did not fall “within the realm of fair comment.” Salman Khan was successful in receiving an interim order that made KRK unable to post about the actor. Manoj Bajpayee, upon being called a ‘ganjedi’ filed a case on similar grounds.
Akshay Kumar vs YouTuber Rashid Siddiquee
Akshay Kumar sought an unconditional apology along with a whopping ₹500 crore in damages from Rashid Siddiquee, a YouTuber hailing from Bihar. “Our client (Kumar) states that because of your (Siddiquee’s) scandalous, defamatory and derogatory videos, he has suffered mental trauma agony and huge loss, including loss of reputation and goodwill, which our client quantifies at ₹500 crore,” said the notice. The YouTuber alleged Kumar’s involvement in the Sushant Singh Rajput case. He had been booked by the Mumbai government in relation to another defamation case.
Bollywood vs the media
Some of the film industry’s biggest names, including Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra and Farhan Akhtar, came together in the unprecedented legal action against the media houses. The suit was filed by some 38 production houses during the media storm of the Sushant Singh Rajput case. At the receiving end were Republic TV, and Arnab Goswami and Pradeep Bhandari of the channel; and Times Now and its top faces Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar. “Media can’t run a parallel trial. You’re a broadcaster… show news. There is less news and more opinion,” the court told the channels today, stressing that “things are being pre-judged”.
Also Read; How Are Things For Shilpa Shetty Kundra Now That She Is Back On Set?
