YouTuber Rashid Siddiquee has opposed the defamation notice issued against him by actor Akshay Kumar in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput death case and refused to pay Rs 500 crore damages sought by the star, claiming there was nothing defamatory in his videos.
The YouTuber also urged Akshay Kumar to withdraw the notice, failing which he would initiate "appropriate legal proceedings" against the actor.
Akshay Kumar had on 17 November issued a defamation notice against Rashid Siddiquee seeking ₹ 500 crores in damages for making "false and baseless allegations" against him in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.
Akshay Kumar, in the notice sent through law firm IC Legal, said Rashid Siddiquee in his YouTube channel FF News has published several "defamatory, libellous and derogatory" videos.
Rashid Siddiquee, in his reply sent through his advocate JP Jayswal on 20 November, claimed the allegations made by Akshay Kumar were "false, vexatious and oppressive and is raised with an intent to harass him". The reply further claimed that every Indian citizen has the fundamental right to freedom of speech.
"The news reported by Siddiquee was already in the public domain and he (Siddiquee) has placed reliance on other news channels as sources," the reply stated.
It further questioned the delay in the defamation notice sent and said the videos were uploaded in August 2020.
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