Mumbai: A city court has temporarily restrained actor and film critic Kamaal R Khan from publishing defamatory content against film producer Vashu Bhagnani, saying he has “no absolute right” to damage the latter’s reputation under the guise of movie review in public domain.

The judge underscored that “right to speech of one person should not cause breach of the right of privacy and public image of another person”.

Bhagnani had sought legal action against Khan for allegedly running a “well-orchestrated smear campaign” in early 2021 by posting a series of “grossly defamatory, slanderous, and distasteful” tweets and videos. Bhagnani as interim injunctions — until his main defamation suit against Khan was decided — had sought directions prohibiting Khan from publishing any further defamatory comments and an unconditional apology.

In an order passed earlierthis month, civil judge Amit A Laulkar asked Khan to delete or withdraw the “offending allegations” mentioned in the legal motion. However, it denied the prayer for an unconditional apology, stating that such a mandate requires detailed evidence typically handled at the final trial stage. Khan, in his response, argued that the motion was “frivolous” and based on “distorted facts”. He maintained that as a film critic, it is his job to review films and discuss industry trade.