Salman Khan says neighbour ‘bringing in religion’ to defame him: My brothers married Hindus, we celebrate all festivals

Salman Khan’s defamation case against his neighbour is getting nastier by the day. During the latest hearing, Salman, through his lawyer, accused the neighbour of unnecessarily dragging his religious identity into the dispute.

Salman has filed a civil suit alleging that Ketan Kakkad, who owns a plot of land near the actor’s farmhouse in Panvel near Mumbai, defamed him during an interview with a YouTube channel.

As per a report in Live Law, the actor’s lawyer Pradeep Gandhi read out substantial portions of Ketan Kakkad’s posts and interviews in front of the court on Thursday. He said that Ketan had accused the actor of being ‘a front for the D Gang, commenting on his religious identity and implying that he was connected to the ruling party at the central and state level, levelling allegations of child trafficking, further alleging that bodies of film stars are buried in his farmhouse.’

At this, Salman responded through his lawyer, saying, “Without proper proof, all these allegations are a figment of the defendant’s imagination. In a property dispute, why are you tarnishing my personal reputation. Why are you bringing in religion? My mother is a Hindu, my father is a Muslim and my brothers have married Hindus. We celebrate all festivals.”

He further said, “You are an educated person… not a Gunda-chhap to make such allegations. The easiest thing now-a-days is to gather some people, get on social media and vent out all your anger.” He added that he had no aspirations to join politics.

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Salman Khan, who lives in suburban Bandra in Mumbai, owns a farmhouse in Panvel in neighbouring Raigad district. Kakkad, also a Mumbai resident, owns a plot on a hill next to Khan’s farmhouse. According to Salman’s suit, Ketan made slanderous comments against the actor while speaking to a YouTuber. 

Salman Khan has also made YouTube, social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and search engine giant Google, parties to the suit, demanding that they be directed to block and remove the ‘defamatory content’ from their websites. Salman wants a permanent order restraining Ketan from posting or publishing defamatory content about the actor or his farmhouse.