YouTuber Rashid Siddiquee, who was served a defamation notice by actor Akshay Kumar, has opposed the notice. Saying that there was no defamatory content in the video broadcasted on his channel ‘FF News’, he has denied paying Rs 500 crore to the actor.
Siddiquee has also advised Akshay to withdraw the notice, or he says that he will take “appropriate legal proceedings” against the actor. On 17th November, Akshay had filed a defamation suit against the YouTuber demanding Rs 500 crores in damages for making “false and baseless allegations” against him in his video related to Sushant Singh Rajput‘s death case.
Akshay had sent a legal notice through the law firm I C Legal to Siddiquee, which said the YouTuber had broadcasted several “defamatory, libelous and derogatory” videos. Replying to the notice, Siddiquee sent a notice to the actor via his lawyer J P Jayswal. The notice says that the charges levelled by Akshay are “false, vexatious and oppressive and is raised with an intent to harass him”.
The notice also mentions that “The news reported by Siddiquee was already in the public domain and he (Siddiquee) has placed reliance on other news channels as sources.” The notice claims that the defamation suit has been filed by Akshay “with the intent to pressurise Siddiquee.”
“Akshay Kumar faced severe backlash after interviewing an influential politician, whereby thousands of people have made personal remarks against him on various YouTube videos and websites. Surprisingly, Kumar has not taken any action on the same, however, he has selectively chosen Siddiquee to saddle the blame of defamation,” the reply said.
Siddique has also claimed that every Indian citizen has the fundamental right to freedom of speech.
