No relief for KRK from MP HC in defamation case filed by Manoj Bajpayee

Indore: Actor and film critic Kamal Rashid Khan, better known as KRK, did not get relief from the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in a defamation case filed against him by actor Manoj Bajpayee.

Khan had sought quashing of the case filed by Bajpayee in the Indore district court, but the former's plea under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was dismissed by Justice Satyendra Kumar Singh after hearing both sides on December 13.

The HC held the controversial remarks made in a tweet were good enough at first glance to tarnish the image and reputation of Bajpayee.

The HC, in its order, said, "In the instant case, the tweets in question by and large point towards the character of the respondent (Bajpayee). However, the same were tweeted with an intent to malign the reputation of respondent or not is a matter of evidence, which cannot be decided by this court by invoking the inherent powers vested under section 482 of CrPC." On July 9, a defamation case under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code was filed against Khan on the direction of the Indore district court after Bajpayee's lawsuit claimed two tweets of the former on July 26 last year tarnished his image and reputation.

Khan's lawyer told court the Twitter handle from which these tweets were made had been sold by his client on October 22, 2020, and, therefore, he cannot be held liable.

Bajpayee's lawyer said the sale of the Twitter handle cannot be considered in the present stage of the trial.

Bajpayee's lawyer Paresh Joshi on Monday said his client has already recorded his statement in the case filed in the Indore district court and that the next hearing would be held on January 17.