Salman Khan files restraining order against neighbor

Bollywood actor Salman Khan has filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court against the Sessions Court's earlier order which refused to pass a restraining order against his Panvel farmhouse neighbor NRI Ketan Kakkar.

In his plea before the High Court, Salman said that Ketan has made several social media posts against him that were defamatory.

He added that Ketan's posts are not only defamatory and derogatory against him but also communally biased and create a communal divide.

The matter will be heard by a single judge bench of Bombay HC, of Justice CV Bhadang, on August 22.

Earlier, in March, the Sessions Court refused to pass an injunction order against Ketan in the defamation case filed by Salman for the former's social media posts.

The verdict of Sessions Court Judge AH Laddhad was pronounced on March 23, the detailed order of which came later.

The verdict noted that Ketan had placed on record evidence like complaints and show-cause notices to Salman about the allegations of encroachments by the actor in his Panvel property, the 100-acre farm, in the public interest as a "whistle-blower".

Notably, Kakkar has claimed that in or around 1995, he and his wife had acquired/ purchased a certain plot of land near Salman's farmhouse, for constructing a house, ashram, temple, etc.

Kakkar also claimed that the plot of land allotted to him was allegedly canceled by the Maharashtra forest department at the behest and in collusion with Khan, and also said that the entry and exit to his plot of land were illegally acquired and blocked by constructing a gate.

He also claimed that he had constructed an eco-friendly Ganesh Temple, access to the same also was allegedly blocked and the said temple is grabbed/usurped by Salman's family.

Salman, in his complaint, contended that the defendants are inciting communal violence and Hindu-Muslim hatred by making provocative, baseless, and false statements based on religion, which are irrelevant and absurd.