The Bombay High Court on Wednesday (October 7, 2020) directed an actor and Richa Chadha to explore a settlement in the defamation suit filed by Chadha seeking compensation from the actor for making defamatory remarks against her while alleging sexual assault against film director Anurag Kashyap. The directions were issued after the actor informed the court through her lawyer that she was willing to retract her statements and apologize to Chadha. The court also restrained media channels from airing the content in dispute until the suit was decided.
A bench of justice AK Menon was hearing a defamation suit filed by Chadha seeking compensation of ₹1.1 crores from the actor, another actor Kamal R Khan and a news channel for derogatory and defamatory comments made against her.
After hearing the submissions, the court asked advocate Nitin Satpute, who appeared for the actor, whether his client was willing to withdraw her statements against Chadha and apologize for the same.
While addressing the court, Satpute said that his client was willing to apologize and withdraw her statements against Chadha, and hence required time to speak to Chadha’s lawyer to arrive at a settlement.
Senior advocate Veerendra Tulzapurkar, representing Chadha, along with advocate Saveena Bedi Sachar said they would work out a settlement by Monday and inform the court about the terms of the settlement.
Advocate Manoj Gadkari, appearing for Khan, informed the court that his client had not made any derogatory comments against Chadha but had simply forwarded the comments made by the actor. Gadkari, however, assured the court that his client would refrain from sharing any content pertaining to Chadha or the current case till Monday.
After hearing all submissions, the court issued a temporary injunction against news channels and others from sharing or airing any content under dispute in the suit.
