Supreme Court rejects Kamaal R Khan plea to transfer defamation case filed by Manoj Bajpayee from Indore to Mumbai

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a plea filed by actor and producer Kamaal R Khan seeking transfer of the defamation case filed against him by actor Manoj Bajpayee, from Indore to Mumbai [Kamaal Rashid Khan v Manoj Bajpayee]..A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and Dipankar Datta stated it saw no reason to accept such a request."Heard learned counsel for the petitioner as also learned counsel for the respondent and perused the petition papers as also the reply filed to the transfer petition along with the documents enclosed. Considering that the complaint has been initiated at a place where it is alleged that the complainant had knowledge of the defamatory tweets, we see no reason to accept the request for transfer," the Court said..The bench, therefore disposed of the transfer plea moved by Khan. Bajpayee had filed the case after Khan termed him a charsi/ganjedi (drug addict) in his tweets in 2021.Khan moved the top court contending that the case pending before a court of the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, at Indore in Madhya Pradesh be transferred to the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate at Mumbai in Maharashtra.Single-judge Justice Aravind Kumar had last month issued notice in the matter, and directed Bajpayee to file his reply within two weeks.On December 13, 2022, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had dismissed Khan's plea seeking quashing of the case against him. Last month, an Indore court had also issued an arrest warrant against Khan, as per media reports. This had prompted Khan to move the Supreme Court.During the last hearing, counsel representing Khan had pointed out that since both parties were residing in Mumbai, the Indore court had no jurisdiction. Counsel for Bajpayee pointed out that the entire cause of action arose in Indore, the witnesses who have deposed before the magistrate are residents of Indore, and the effect of the tweets was felt throughout the country including Indore. Pertinently, Bajpayee contended that Khan did not approach Court with clean hands, having suppressed the fact that the ground of jurisdiction had already been rejected by the High Court.It had been further argued that the magistrate had already passed a reasoned order after taking cognizance of the case, and satisfied himself with the aspect of jurisdiction and convenience of parties.Bajpayee's counsel stressed that Khan is a habitual offender for posting defamatory content against various celebrities, and has been prosecuted for such statements by various courts.Counsel for Khan then prayed for an interim stay on the arrest warrants issued by the Indore court, which was refused..Senior Advocate Brijender Chahar and advocates Kamal Pundir, Durgesh Gupta, Anil Kumar Sharma, Vinod Kumar Tewari, Priya, Shivani, and Amit Kumar represented Khan.Advocates Mayank Kshirsagar, Paresh Joshi, Abha Goel, Rashmi Joshi, Pankhuri, and Akhilesh Yadav represented Bajpayee.[Read order]