The Bombay High Court has made a significant observation that social media platforms cannot be used to make defamatory allegations against individuals. The court asked Bollywood actor Salman Khan's neighbour to consider deleting posts made against the actor. This observation came while hearing a defamation appeal filed by Salman Khan against his neighbour Ketan Kakkad.
Background of the Dispute
The dispute between Salman Khan and Ketan Kakkad concerns their properties in Panvel, a suburb of Mumbai. Khan owns a farmhouse called 'Arpita Farm House' in Panvel, while Kakkad has a property in the neighbourhood. Kakkad alleged that Khan breached various environmental laws and blocked the road to his property. He claimed to have filed complaints before the concerned authorities but received no response.
Kakkad, an NRI, subsequently posted tweets against Khan and gave interviews to a few YouTube channels, which uploaded the videos on social media. Salman moved civil court seeking removal of the content, contending that the tweets and videos were defamatory. However, the lower court refused to grant any injunction against Kakkad, following which the appeal was moved to the high court in 2022.
Court's Observations
During the hearing on Thursday, Justice Sharmila Deshmukh made it clear that she would not waste precious judicial time over the question of whether such videos should be uploaded or deleted. She urged both sides to restrict their fight to the courts. The court stated, "Just because one has access to social media does not mean they can upload videos about any person, whether a common citizen or a celebrity, merely to defame them."
The bench asked Kakkad's counsel, "Why upload such videos on social media? You could have agitated before the appropriate authorities. The videos were uploaded way back in 2019 and 2020. Who will be interested in this now? Why have a trial in media?" The judge further observed that even if a video was not directly uploaded by Kakkad, it could still be taken down by issuing directions to the intermediaries.
Key Remarks by the Judge
Justice Deshmukh remarked, "Nobody can just upload a video and then go to a court. A video goes viral on social media within seconds. You just cannot bring disrepute to someone, be it a celebrity or a common man, by uploading a video on social media or by tweeting something." When the counsel submitted that the videos were not among the most viral content and could not bring disrepute to Salman Khan, the judge clarified that virality was irrelevant. She said, "Even if the video is a most viral one or not, it cannot remain on social media."
The court also noted that it was not denying any element of truth in Kakkad's claims but emphasized that withdrawal of the video would not dilute his stand. The court ultimately directed the deletion of the videos and tweets, granting time to the counsel to seek instructions from his client on the issue. The matter will next be heard in July.
About the Author
The TOI Legal Desk is a dedicated team of journalists committed to tracking and reporting on courts, legal developments, and judicial proceedings across the country and world.
