`Tiger Zinda Hai’: `Dabang’ NRI hits Salman Khan where it hurts most; submits documentary evidence in land grab case

A local court has ruled that the statements of NRI against his neighbor and actor  Salman Khan appear to be supported by documentary evidence.

Additional Sessions Judge Anil Laddhad rejected Khan’s plea seeking an interim order barring his neighbor Ketan Kakkad from making any further comments against him or his family members in connection with Khan’s farmhouse at Panvel in the neighboring Raigad district.

Last week, the court refused interim relief to Khan who has filed a defamation case against his Panvel farmhouse neighbor Ketan Kakkad.

Khan’s defamation suit alleged that Kakkad made defamatory comments against the actor in an interview on a YouTube channel. Khan’s advocate Pradeep Gandhy argued that Kakkad made false, disparaging, and defamatory allegations in videos, posts, and tweets.

Kakkad had tried to purchase a plot of land next to Khan’s farmhouse, but the transaction was cancelled by the authorities on the ground that it was illegal, the lawyer told the court.

Advocates Abha Singh and Aditya Pratap, appearing for Kakkad, opposed the relief sought by Khan, arguing that the statements revolved around facts about Khan’s property and could not amount to defamation.

The judge, after examining the tweets and videos placed on record, said that Khan did not explain how the innuendos in the tweets pertained to him.

There is “documentary proof” to substantiate the allegation about Khan restraining Kakkad from approaching his land, the court noted.

“The defendant (Kakkad) contended that he is a whistleblower to the illegal acts done by the plaintiff (Khan) and he made imputations in the public interest by taking reasonable precautions by producing documentary material in support of the same,” the judge noted.

“Therefore, at preliminary stage….as the plaintiff failed to explain innuendo, how it relates to him, and the defendant raised the plea of justification which is prima facie supported by documentary evidence… I am not inclined to grant an injunction to the plaintiff,” the court ruled.

The matter dates back to the mid-1990s when the young NRI Kakkad planned to buy a tiny plot of land in Raigad to build his retirement nest, and the seller company introduced him to the legendary Bollywood writer, Salim Khan.

The celeb Khans assured Kakkad that the locality was good and they would love to have him as their neighbor instead of some other snoopy types as the hilly plot – eyed by the NRI – overlooks the family’s 100-acre Arpita Farms.

Convinced, the pleased Kakkad bought the 2.50-acre plot in 1996 and later built an eco-friendly Lord Ganesh Temple on it, and years later, even an environment-friendly 120-square feet thatched hut to occasionally go and get a breather there.

The two neighbors got along jovially for over two decades and whenever the Kakkads visited their tiny property, they were accorded a warm welcome by the Khan clan, with refreshments and beverages, at the Arpita Farms – where Salman Khan was bitten by a non-venomous snake on December 26, 2021, on the eve of his 56th birthday, giving palpitations to the whole nation.

In 2014, Kakkad retired and returned to India, eager to build a small cottage along with his wife Anita, and probably an ‘ashram’ in the future, and meditate before their tiny temple.