Why Mumbai Court Restrained Abhinav Kashyap And Others From Speaking Against Salman Khan?

While granting interim relief to Bollywood superstar Salman Khan in a defamation suit, a Mumbai court has issued directions restraining filmmaker Abhinav Kashyap and several other individuals from making, circulating, or publishing any allegedly defamatory remarks against the actor and his family. The court’s order aims to prevent further dissemination of statements that could harm Khan’s reputation until the matter is heard in detail.

The relief was granted on an ad-interim, ex-parte basis, meaning it was passed without hearing the other side at this stage, considering the urgency and seriousness of the allegations raised by the actor.

The order was passed by Judge P. G. Bhosale, who named Abhinav Kashyap as defendant number one, along with Komal Mehru, Khushboo Hazare, and other unidentified individuals listed under “John Doe.” While delivering the order, the court made a significant observation on the limits of free speech, clarifying that the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression cannot be interpreted as a licence to use abusive, defamatory, or threatening language against any individual or their family members.

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The court noted, "The defamatory statements made by defendant no.1 (Kashyap) and the interview taken by defendants no.2 (Mehru) and 3 (Hazare) needs to be directed to the injuncted from further posting, re-posting, communicating, uploading, printing, publishing, re-publishing, hosting, re-circulating till the appearance of all the defendants and filing their reply to the notice of motion."

In its detailed observations, the court noted that the statements allegedly made by Kashyap, as well as the interviews conducted and published by defendants Komal Mehru and Khushboo Hazare, prima facie appeared defamatory in nature. As a result, the court directed that these defendants be restrained from continuing such actions. Specifically, they have been injuncted from further posting, reposting, communicating, uploading, printing, publishing, republishing, hosting, or recirculating the impugned content in any form across platforms.

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The restraint will remain in force until all the defendants formally appear before the court and file their replies to the notice of motion. The court emphasised that this temporary restriction is necessary to prevent further potential damage to Salman Khan’s reputation and to ensure that the legal process is not undermined while the case is still under consideration.