Unable to attend court: BJP leader withdraws complaints against Nawab Malik

Months after NCP (SP) leader Nawab Malik switched sides and joined the Ajit Pawar faction, two defamation complaints filed against the former Maharashtra minister have been withdrawn.

BJP leader Mohit Bharatiya Khamboj, who had filed the defamation complaints in 2021, said in an affidavit before the magistrate court that he was withdrawing his complaints on his own will as he would not be able to attend the court proceedings on a daily basis.

One complaint pertained to alleged defamatory and derogatory statements made by Malik against him during a press conference on November 7, 2021.

The second complaint was related to Malik's allegation that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was "acting under the influence of BJP" and alleged defamatory statements against Khamboj and his brother-in-law.

A court had issued a notice to Malik, who was subsequently granted bail.

In 2021, Malik was a minister in the Maharashtra government, where the then undivided NCP led by Sharad Pawar was one of the parties in the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. The BJP was in the opposition. The complaints against Malik came as central agencies were conducting investigations against some ministers.

During the hearing of the complaints, Malik moved a plea, saying the complaints were pending adjudication for long and should be heard expeditiously.

Khamboj was supposed to appear in court as complainant and depose, but he skipped past hearings. Malik pointed out that because of Khamboj's non-appearance, the proceedings had virtually come to a standstill.

After Khamboj's affidavit, the court disposed of the complaints as uncontested and "withdrawn before evidence". The BJP leader had filed three cases against Malik. One was withdrawn in 2022 itself.

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