Court pulls up Salman Khan's neighbour over social media posts in property dispute

The Bombay High Court heard Salman Khan's plea against his Panvel farmhouse neighbour over social media posts. The Bench questioned why grievances were not pursued with authorities and suggested the posts be deleted.

In Short

• Justice Sharmila Deshmukh asked why grievances were aired online, not officially
• Ketan Kakkad alleges farmhouse construction breached environmental norms and blocked access
• He told the court authorities were approached earlier, but no action followed

The Bombay High Court on Thursday said access to social media does not give anyone the right to post defamatory content, including against celebrities, while hearing actor Salman Khan’s plea against his neighbour at his Panvel farmhouse. The court asked why such material should be uploaded on social media instead of grievances being taken up with the authorities concerned.

According to a PTI report, a single-judge Bench of Justice Sharmila Deshmukh also asked the neighbour, Ketan Kakkad, to consider deleting the posts. The matter has been posted for further hearing on July 6.

Kakkad owns the property adjoining Khan’s farmhouse at Panvel in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. He has alleged that the actor violated environmental norms during the construction of the farmhouse and blocked access to his property. Kakkad also said he had approached the authorities over the issue, but no action was taken.

Khan later filed a defamation suit against Kakkad, saying he had uploaded videos and other content on social media about the actor’s activities at the farmhouse. Khan said the posts were defamatory and sought directions for their removal, along with an order restraining Kakkad from making such comments in future. After a civil court refused to grant the relief, Khan approached the High Court.

In his plea before the High Court, Khan said the posts uploaded by Kakkad were not only defamatory, but also communally provocative against him. When the matter was heard on Thursday, Justice Deshmukh questioned why anyone should upload such videos and content on social media instead of pursuing remedies before the authorities concerned.

“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. Why upload such videos on social media?” Justice Deshmukh said.

The court also asked whether judicial time should be spent only on deciding if a particular social media post was defamatory and should therefore be deleted. It suggested that Ketan Kakkad consider removing the content. The case will now come up again on July 6.

- Ends