Bombay HC defers hearing on Wankhede’s contempt plea against Nawab Malik – India Today

The Bombay High Court on Monday deferred the hearing on a contempt petition filed by former Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede’s father Dhyandev Wankhede against Maharashtra cabinet minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik.

While adjourning the hearing for a week, the bench noted that there was no point in punishing Malik while he was already behind bars.

Nawab Malik was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on February 3 in connection with a money laundering case. The ED is probing an Rs 85 lakh land transaction between Malik and Haseena Parkar, sister of underworld fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, for a piece of land in the Kurla area of Mumbai. Malik at present is in ED custody and was hospitalised a few days earlier. His ED custody will end on March 3.

Dhyandev Wankhede had approached the Bombay HC seeking issuance of contempt against the Maharashtra minister for breaking his undertaking in the court. Last year, Malik filed an undertaking before the court that he would not mention anything about the Wankhede family until Wankhede’s defamation plea against him is decided.

Wankhede has alleged that Malik breached the undertaking at least thrice.

Filing a reply to Wankhede’s contempt plea, Malik, in his affidavit, submitted that his counsel had told the court that his undertaking would not constrain him from making public statements against the conduct of central government officers that were in breach of their official duties. And the comments and TV interviews mentioned by Dnyandev in the contempt plea came within the purview of the above concession and therefore, “not in breach of his undertaking.”

The minister said, in his affidavit, that he had not named Sameer Wankhede in the press conferences mentioned before the HC in the last hearing by Dnyandev’s counsel. He said he had spoken about the former NCB officer’s caste certificate being illegal. It was because such illegality was the very premise of the complaint filed by him against Sameer Wankhede before the state caste scrutiny committee.

“I respectfully submit that my right [as a spokesperson of the NCP] to criticise or comment on the political misuse of ventured agencies, and the conduct of their officers in the course of their public duties cannot be restricted,” the affidavit read.

“The contempt jurisdiction cannot be used for my statements on public officers and the performance of their official duties. I submit that this contempt petition be dismissed with costs,” the affidavit in reply added.

Wankhede filed a rejoinder to this reply on Monday and stated that the minister was deliberately, willfully and continuously breaching the undertaking given by him to the court that he would not make any further statements against the Wankhedes.