Nagpur: Bringing curtains down on a long-running legal battle, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has quashed defamation proceedings initiated against former office bearers of Gondwana Club, ruling in their favour and setting aside a lower court order that had summoned them.
Justice Praveen Patil allowed a petition filed by Nikhil Tarkunde, Venkatesh Buti and Anuj Singhania, challenging the defamation complaint lodged by former club member Aditya Mohta. The High Court’s order effectively nullifies the proceedings that had been pending for over a decade.
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Tarkunde is a resident of Shivaji Nagar, Buti is a resident of Shraddhanandpeth, and Singhania is a resident of Ramdaspeth.
The dispute traces back to 2009, when Mohta alleged that he was wrongfully suspended and publicly defamed during a “Winter Bumper Housey” event held at the Cricket Club of India. According to Mohta, the Gondwana Club acted against him following complaints of alleged misconduct involving members of the Cricket Club of India and certain female guests. After conducting an internal inquiry, the club had issued a public notice announcing his suspension, a move that Mohta claimed damaged his reputation.
Aggrieved by the suspension and the public announcement, Mohta approached the court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), which took cognisance of the complaint and issued notices to the office bearers on March 5, 2012. The trio later challenged this order before the Sessions Court, but their revision plea was dismissed on December 23, 2025.
Undeterred, the former office bearers moved the High Court. After examining the legal merits of the case and the circumstances surrounding the complaint, the High Court ruled in their favour, quashing the defamation proceedings and setting aside the earlier orders.
The judgment marks a significant relief for the petitioners, closing a contentious chapter that began with a club-level dispute and escalated into prolonged criminal litigation.
