'Communally provocative posts against me': Know all about Salman Khan's tiff with his neighbour

Bollywood actor Salman Khan testified before the Bombay High Court on Friday, claiming that his Panvel neighbour Ketan Kakkad had uploaded videos on social media that were both defamatory and communally inflammatory. Mr. Kakkad was taken to court after posting a video on the internet that showed the actor engaging in what is believed to be inappropriate behaviour at his Panvel house.

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In March of 2022, Salman Khan appealed a ruling against him in a defamation lawsuit he had filed against Mr. Kakkad. The case was assigned to a single bench presided over by Justice C V Bhadang.

Salman Khan asked the court to order Mr. Kakkad to delete the slanderous recordings and refrain from making any future remarks against the actor.

"The videos uploaded by Kakkad are blithely speculative. They were not only defamatory, but also communally provoked the viewers against Salman Khan," Mr Kadam said.

The actor appealed to the Supreme Court after the lower court rejected his request for such an injunction.

On Friday, attorney Ravi Kadam argued that the civil court erred in refusing to obtain an injunction on behalf of Salman Khan.

Mr. Kadam, reading from the videos' scripts, claimed that Salman Khan's neighbour, Mr. Kakkad, had complained that Khan, a member of an ethnic minority, was attempting to take over a Ganesha temple (in Panvel near his farmhouse).

"In the video, the defendant (Kakkad) compares Salman Khan to Babar and Aurangazeb. He (Kakkad) says it had taken 500 years for the Ayodhya Mandir (temple) to come up and here Salman Khan is trying to shut down a Ganesha temple," Mr Kadam said.

"These videos are watched by lakhs of viewers who then post their comments against Salman Khan. This is clearly provoking the viewers against Salman. The videos have communalised everything and made it Hindus vs Muslims," the senior counsel argued.

He further said that Mr. Kakkad had made many statements suggesting that Salman Khan was a part of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's group.

"Kakkad has alleged that Salman is running business of drug trafficking, organ trafficking and child trafficking from his farmhouse," Kadam said.

The court heard the parties' short arguments and set a new hearing date on August 22.

Abha Singh and Aditya Singh, attorneys for Mr. Kakkad, argued in the lower court that the actor had launched a defamation action against him in an effort to force him to relinquish his property.

(With Inputs from PTI)