On October 23, actress Luviena Lodh issued a video message on Instagram and accused Mahesh Bhatt and his family of harassing her. Luviena claimed that she is married to Mahesh's nephew Sumit Sabharwal and said she has filed for divorce. Alleging that people have lost their jobs because of Mahesh, she addressed him as the 'biggest don of the industry'. In the video, she went on to also name Mukesh Bhatt, Sahil Saigal and Kumkum Saigal.
Now, a week later, Mahesh and Mukesh have reportedly have sought Rs 1 crore in damages from Luviena and an order restraining her from making any such false claims in the future. According to reports, the plea was heard by a single bench of Justice A K Menon on Monday and directed her to file a reply and posted it for hearing after three weeks. Luviena’s legal team assured the court that she will not publish or make such statements against Mahesh and Mukesh.
On October 26, Mukesh and his legal team issued a statement regarding Luviena's claims. The producer clarified that Sumit is just an employee of his company Vishesh Films for over 20 years and isn't related to the family otherwise. "As mentioned in our defamation plaint submitted in the courts today, that Mr. Sumit Sabharwal is only an employee in my production company Vishesh Films for over 20yrs as opposed to Ms. Luviena Lodh’s claims that he is our relative in various media reports and publications. Ms. Luviena Lodh has consciously and maliciously orchestrated a campaign along with her benefactors to nefariously defame and besmirch the good name and reputation of my brother and myself with the sole and ulterior motive to garner publicity in the hopes that the same would motivate a lucrative out of court settlement in her matrimonial dispute with Sumit. We have the highest faith in our judicial system and intend to see this suit to its logical end," Mukesh's statement read.
(Source: PTI)
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