Malik-Siddiqui row enters legal twist

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Saturday, April 03, 2010
NEW DELHI: The controversy over Sania Mirza’s marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik gets uglier, as the Siddiquis, who claim that the cricketer married their daughter Ayesha in 2002, on Saturday sent a legal notice to the Maliks.

This legal notice was dispatched today morning and will take 48 working hours to reach the Maliks in Pakistan. The family has sent a legal notice the Maliks on the grounds of defamation, harassment, character assassination and fraud.

Sources said that plans are being undertaken to bring both the families to a discussion table to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, Shoaib Malik too turned to legal services, by hiring a Delhi-based lawyer named Ramesh Gupta, to file a defamation case against the Siddiquis.

Gupta, who has a chamber in Delhi's Patiala House court complex, is a former chairman of Bar Council of Delhi. He has appeared as defence lawyer in high-profile cases like BMW hit-and-run case and is main lawyer for Rahul Mahajan in the ongoing trial over the latter's alleged drug overdose.

While Gupta couldn't be contacted, his junior aide and advocate, Meena, confirmed that their office had received word from Malik's family in Pakistan.

"Malik's family has instructed us to pursue this case as they feel they are being defamed by the statements being made by Siddiqui and her family. My senior, Ramesh Gupta has been approached to file the defamation suit. We are closely monitoring statements emanating from Siddiqui family and will soon take action,'' she said, adding that legal grounds for slapping defamation charges are being prepared.

The newspaper has learnt that the suit is likely to be filed in Delhi itself and will seek damages for tarnishing Malik's reputation at a time when he is getting married to tennis star Sania Mirza.

Ayesha and her father have claimed before the media that Shoaib is Ayesha's legally-wedded husband. In the run up to Sania's wedding, M A Siddiqui has demanded that Shoaib formally divorce his daughter before tying the knot with the tennis star.