By Express News Service
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it will pass its order on November 22 on a plea filed by Dnyandev Wankhede, father of NCB’s zonal director Sameer Wankhede, seeking interim reliefs against Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, including an injunction prohibiting him from posting any defamatory content on social media against the anti-drug agency officer and his family.
A single bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar on Thursday took on record additional documents submitted by Malik and Dnyandev Wankhede, related to the ongoing controversy over the NCB officer’s caste certificate.
NCP minister Nawab Malik had submitted Sameer Wankhede’s school leaving certificates by Saint Joseph High School (Wadala) where his name is written as Sameer Dawood Wankhede and he is mentioned as a Muslim in 1989. Malik also submitted Wankhede’s other school leaving certificate (Saint Paul High ) where his name is mentioned as Sameer Dawood Wankhede and shows his faith to be Islam in 1986.
Earlier, Malik had produced a 1979 letter by a health officer of the civic body’s E Ward with Wankhede’s complete birth details. It mentions Dhyandev’s name was Dawood K Wankhede and it was only in 1993 that the sub-registrar corrected his name to Dhyandev. Further, Sameer Wankhede’s name was registered as Muslim, Malik claimed.
He further claimed that even though there is a declaration changing Dhyandev Wankhede’s name in 1993, there is no change in the religion of the newborn.
To counter Malik, Dhyandev Wankhede submitted a set of counter documents that included his son’s birth and caste certificates allegedly showing that he indeed belongs to a Scheduled Caste.
The HC directed both the parties to refrain from submitting any fresh documents until it pronounces its order on November 22.
Malik has been alleging that Sameer Wankhede, though born a Muslim, had secured a central government job claiming to be from the SC category. But Wankhede has denied the allegations levelled against him.
Wankhede’s father had filed a defamation suit against Malik earlier this month in the high court, seeking among other things that Malik be restrained from posting defamatory statements against him and his family on social media.
He has also sought damages worth Rs 1.25 crore.
Malik has been fiercely attacking Sameer Wankhede after the Narcotics Control Bureau’s raid on a cruise party last month following which around 20 people, including actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, were arrested. Aryan Khan and some other accused were later released on bail.