Former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Monday was granted relief by a magistrate court in Mumbai following BJP functionary Mohit Kamboj withdrew his complaint, reported PTI.
In the ruling, the court said, as quoted by the PTI, “The accused stands acquitted of the offence under IPC section 500 (defamation) and the proceeding is hereby closed.”
Earlier, the BJP functionary filed the application for withdrawal of the case under section 257 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
According to Section 257 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), a complainant can withdraw his or her complaint at any time before a final order is passed. However, the magistrate should be satisfied with the grounds for withdrawal and if permitted by the magistrate, then the accused gets acquitted.
“Since this court is desirous of keeping the said case on a day-to-day basis, I am desirous to withdraw the case filed against the accused as I will be unable to attend the court on a daily basis,” PTI quoted Kamboj saying in his application.
“I have voluntarily decided to withdraw the case, and no undue pressure or coercion has been exerted upon me in this regard,” it added.
What were the allegations?
Earlier in 2021, Kamboj had filed a complaint in the court alleging Nawab Malik had defamed him and his brother-in-law following the NCB raided a cruise ship in October 2021.
In his complaint, Kamboj claimed that Nawab in his press conference on arresting several persons including actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan had ‘purposefully and intentionally defamed’ him and s brother-in-law Rishab Sachdev. NCP leader and ex-Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik alleged that Aryan Khan’s arrest was a forgery.
Kamboj had sought action against Malik for allegedly committing offences under sections 499 and 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.