'If Jacqueline Fernandez is dragged to any legal court..' : Actress' lawyer responds to Nora Fatehi's defamation suit

The news of Nora Fatehi filing a defamation suit against Jacqueline Fernandez and some other media houses grabbed several eyeballs. Both actresses had their names pop up in the Rs 200 crore extortion case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar . However, now Jacqueline’s lawyer has responded to the lawsuit.

For the unversed, Nora Fatehi had filed a defamation suit against Jacqueline Fernandez and other media houses for allegedly trying to tarnish her image and lessen her opportunity to get work in the industry. Now, Jacqueline’s lawyer Prashant Patil has told Etimes that his client hasn’t spoken against Nora in public so there is no question of defamation here. He said, “Jacqueline has not made any statement in front of any electronic or print media against Nora or for that matter, any other person. She has consciously avoided talking about the Enforcement Directorate proceedings. Till date she has maintained the sanctity of law and because the matter is sub-judice she has always avoided to speak in front of print and social media. Having said that, we have not received any official copy of the suit filed by Nora. Once we receive an official confirmation or an order of the Honourable Court, we will respond to it legally.”

The advocate also said that Jacqueline Fernandez has the utmost respect for Nora. Prashant Patil added, “My client has the utmost respect for Nora. There definitely has been some sort of miscommunication. Quoting anybody's reply, filed before an adjudicating authority, is a matter of pure judicial proceeding. Any statement made during the course of arguments made before a judicial proceeding cannot be quoted in the public domain, the way it has been quoted now. My client has no intention to defame Nora or for that matter anybody else. If Jacqueline is dragged to any legal court, she will respond legally to protect her own dignity.”

Apart from this, an industry source also expressed disbelief in Nora Fatehi filing the defamation source against Jacqueline Fernandez. The quote said, “It’s shocking that Nora has filed a defamation on media as well as Jacqueline. Saying somethings to competent authorities during an ongoing investigation is not defamation. It’s not as if Jacqueline has given media quotes and held a press conference in the matter. She has only co-operated in investigation and is fighting her case. Actually since the case is an ongoing investigation Jacqueline has maintained a very dignified media silence on the issue.”

Meanwhile, the defamation suit that was filed by Nora Fatehi on Moday (December 12) had her quote which stated, “It has started to become evident that the aforementioned rivals being unable to compete with the Complainant fairly in the industry have started to try and tarnish her reputation which would cause her loss of work.” Jacqueline is listed as ‘accused 1’ in the suit.”