Salman Khan slapped 100-cr defamation suit on a TV channel for sting operation

Mumbai: Actor Salman Khan who was accused of poaching a chinkara at Bhawad near Jodhpur and another chinkara at Ghoda farms during the shooting of his film, Hum Saath Saath Hain, in September 1998, has now filed a defamation suit against a TV news channel in the Bombay high court and has slapped damages worth Rs100 crore.

In a suit filed before a division bench of the HC in August this year, Khan claimed a sting operation conducted by the channel in the 1998 chinkara poaching case was malicious and defamatory.

The channel claimed that few witnesses claimed to haves seen Khan shoot the endangered chinkaras in Jodhpur. However, later the “witness/es turned hostile and claimed the video was doctored”.

In a previous hearing on August 24 this year, the channel told a single bench of the HC that it had already taken down the video and script of the sting operation and all other related material from its website.

In a hearing earlier this month, both the parties submitted affidavits and told the court they were working out a settlement.

Justice SJ Kathawalla, who is presiding over the matter, will hear the matter on November 18.