News Date:
Mumbai: Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has filed a civil defamation suit before the Bombay High Court against his brother and estranged wife seeking ₹100 crores damages.
The plea was mentioned last week before single-judge Justice RI Chagla who is likely to hear it on March 30.
In the suit filed through advocate Sunil Kumar, the actor claimed that his brother Shamsuddin Siddiqui and estranged wife Anjana Pandey alias Zainab Siddiqui made certain misleading claims about him.
“Plaintiff’s (Nawazuddin’s) upcoming films are being postponed. He states that posts and articles are so defamatory that he himself feels very shy to come to the social gatherings and come before the public at large,” the suit said.
Nawazuddin, therefore, submitted that an order of injunction should be issued against his brother and wife to permanently restrain them from making defamatory statements against him to media or on any other platform.
He also prayed the Court to direct the two to withdraw or take down existing comments.
The actor also sought a public apology from his brother and estranged wife for the defamatory statements made against him.
Nawazuddin claimed that his brother had managed his finances including income tax returns, credit card payments, etc. He claimed to have handed over his cards, cheque books, and bank passwords to his brother for the same.
However, his brother turned dishonest and began cheating and defrauding. He claimed that his brother informed him that he was purchasing movable and immovable assets in Nawazuddin’s name, when in fact the purchase was happening under a joint name.
When Nawazuddin tried to question his brother about the purchases, his brother allegedly instigated his estranged wife to file false and frivolous cases against Nawazuddin.
His brother and estranged wife misappropriated ₹21 crores, the plea alleged.
His brother also recorded formal and informal conversation through audio and video, the suit stated.
After Nawazuddin hired a chartered accountant, he discovered that he had unpaid dues to the government to the tune of ₹37 crores because of his brother’s failure to pay them.
