PUNE: The Lohagad Fort murder case has spilled into a new courtroom battle — this time between two lawyers fighting over who actually represents accused Siya Goyal, with one of them slapping a Rs 10 crore defamation notice against Siya’s brother, Sahil Goyal, over remarks disputing his appointment.Speaking with news agency IANS, Srivastava said the documents authorising him to represent Siya Goyal had already been filed before the court and were part of the judicial record.“It is already on record. I had mentioned this earlier as well, and I am saying it again today that it has already been filed and is on record,” he said while referring to the court accepting his authorisation to appear for the accused.Responding to questions about the Rs 10-crore legal notice sent to Sahil Goyal, Srivastava said every citizen has the right to seek legal remedy if their reputation is harmed through false allegations.“A legal notice is the right of any person if they feel their reputation has been wrongly damaged, false rumours have been spread, or attempts have been made to tarnish their image. We believe this is clearly a case of defamation, which is why we have sent the notice. If he does not comply, issue a public apology and send us written communication, we will take every legal action available under the law,” he said.The lawyer further claimed that the damages mentioned in the notice represented only the minimum loss suffered due to the alleged defamatory statements.“The basis is the reputational damage caused. In our estimation, this is the minimum level of damage; the actual damage may be even greater because false statements were made publicly without verifying court records or our documents. This is a very serious case of defamation,” he said.Asked about the next course of action if Sahil failed to respond, Srivastava said his legal team would proceed with both civil and criminal defamation cases.“Our next step will be to immediately initiate legal proceedings, whether through civil defamation or criminal defamation. We will move forward on both fronts without delay after the prescribed time period,” he added.The remarks came shortly after a Wadgaon Maval court remanded Siya Goyal and co-accused Chetan Chaudhary to police custody till July 3 in connection with the alleged murder of Pune-based businessman Ketan Agarwal.Earlier on Monday, Sahil Goyal had maintained that Srivastava was never engaged by the family and claimed he had no knowledge of the lawyer’s assertions.“We have never hired him, and he is not someone that we have engaged from our family. I know nothing about what he is claiming,” Sahil told reporters.The representation issue has triggered a public dispute, with advocate Vipul Dushing also claiming that he was appointed by Siya Goyal’s family to defend her. Dushing has previously stated that during an earlier remand hearing, Siya informed the magistrate that he alone represented her.According to Srivastava, however, Siya, being an adult, had independently executed vakalatnamas on June 25 authorising him and his associates to represent her before the magistrate court as well as the Bombay High Court, and those documents had been accepted on record.Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary were arrested on June 23 in connection with the alleged murder of Ketan Agarwal, who investigators say was pushed off a cliff at Lohagad Fort near Lonavala on June 18.Pune Rural Police have alleged that Siya, who was engaged to marry Agarwal later this year, conspired with Chaudhary—whom police claim she had been in a relationship with since October last year—to eliminate her fiancé. Cops claim the duo planned the crime during a meeting at a Pune café, rehearsed the murder beforehand and that Siya allegedly gave a pre-decided signal before Chaudhary pushed Agarwal off the cliff. The allegations remain under investigation.(With inputs from Bar and Bench)
