The Bombay High Court yesterday issued a notice to Rabiya Khan, mother of deceased actress Jiah Khan, for her defamatory tweets against actor Sooraj Pancholi, his father Aditya Pancholi and their family — whom she blames for her daughter's suicide
Rabiya Khan blames the Pancholis for Jiah's death
Rabiya Khan blames the Pancholis for Jiah's death
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The Bombay High Court yesterday issued a notice to Rabiya Khan, mother of deceased actress Jiah Khan, for her defamatory tweets against actor Sooraj Pancholi, his father Aditya Pancholi and their family — whom she blames for her daughter's suicide. The HC observed that prima facie, Rabia had breached court orders and warned her to restrain from posting any such material on Twitter.
Tweeting since 2013
Ever since Jiah's death in 2013, Rabiya has denounced the family on Twitter several times. In June 2014, Aditya Pancholi filed a defamation suit of Rs 100 crore and sought to restrain her from such tweets in the future. At the time, Rabiya had assured the court that she would stop tweeting against the family. However, after she continued the trend, the Pancholi family moved the HC under Article 215âu00c2u0080u00c2u0088— contempt of the High Court.
"Though Rabiya had made a statement while appearing in the defamation suit, saying that she will stop tweeting against the family on her handle, she has continued to do the same, after which the family approached the court for contempt," said Prashant Patil, advocate of the Pancholi family.
Court diktat
The contempt petition, filed by Aditya, his wife Zarina and daughter Sana, was heard by Justice Gautam Patel, who observed: "Just because she (Rabiya) has a Twitter profile and many followers doesn't mean she can post anything on social media. I will not hesitate to hold her for contempt even though she could be a high-profile personality. In time, we will decide whether contempt is carried or not."
Rabiya's Twitter handle, 'Rabyak', is followed by 3,500 people and the Pancholi family said her tweets had led to defamation. She has also given several interviews in which she had made statements against them. Their lawsuit quantified the loss of reputation and goodwill to the family at R50 crore, damages for loss of business at R25 crore and harassment at another Rs 25 crore.
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