The Bombay High Court on Thursday raised concerns over the use of social media to air personal disputes during a hearing in Salman Khan's defamation case against neighbour Ketan Kakkad.
What Is The Dispute About?
Kakkad owns a property next to Salman Khan's farmhouse in Panvel, near Navi Mumbai. Over the years, he has publicly alleged that construction work at the actor's farmhouse violated environmental rules and affected access to his own land.
According to Kakkad, he had raised these concerns with government authorities but did not receive any action or response.
The issue later spilled onto social media, where Kakkad allegedly shared videos and posts relating to Salman and his farmhouse.
Why Salman Khan Moved Court?
Claiming that the content shared online was defamatory, Salman approached the courts seeking its removal. The actor also argued that some of the posts were not only damaging to his reputation but were also communally provocative.
Salman wanted the court to direct Kakkad to take down the content and prevent him from posting similar material in the future.
After a civil court declined to grant the relief sought, the actor challenged the decision before the Bombay High Court.
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Court's Observations
While hearing the matter, Justice Deshmukh questioned why social media was being used to publicise grievances that could instead be taken up with the relevant authorities.
"Just because one has access to social media does not mean they can upload videos about any person, whether a common citizen or a celebrity, merely to defame them. Why upload such videos on social media?" the judge said.
The court also wondered whether valuable judicial time should be spent deciding if individual social media posts are defamatory and whether they should remain online.
What Next?
No final ruling was passed during Thursday's hearing. However, the High Court suggested that Kakkad think about removing the disputed posts while the case remains under consideration.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on July 6, when the court will continue examining Salman Khan's plea.
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