Doctor withdraws defamation suit against Mika

A doctor, who had filed a Rs 50 lakh defamation suit against singer Mika Singh for allegedly slapping him and tarnishing his image at a function here, has withdrawn the case in a Delhi court after reaching at a settlement.
The court treated the suit as "dismissed as withdrawn as settled" after it was informed by doctor Srikanth and the counsel for Mika that they have settled the matter at the mediation cell.
"It is submitted by plaintiff (doctor) that the matter has been settled between the parties as per terms and conditions mentioned in mediation report and plaintiff wishes to withdraw the present case. To this effect, statement of plaintiff has been recorded separately.

"In view of above, present suit is dismissed as withdrawn as settled," Additional District Judge Rajrani said and cancelled the earlier fixed next date of hearing, November 3.
"Initially, the court was informed by the parties that they were ready to explore the possibility of settling the matter after it was referred to mediation cell.
The suit was at the stage of admission or denial of the documents relating to the suit and for framing of issues.

Amrik Singh alias Mika was earlier summoned in the defamation suit filed by Srikanth, an ophthalmologist at Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital here, alleging that the singer had slapped him during a live concert coordinated by the Delhi Ophthalmological Society as part of a three-day conference.

However, in his written statement, Mika had claimed that the suit was to harass and humiliate him and had sought its dismissal with exemplary cost saying it was devoid of merits.
In the suit filed through advocates Rajesh Kumar and Ahmad Shahzoor, the doctor had said that on April 11, 2015, he was dancing at the venue when Mika, without any reason, started pointing fingers at him from the stage and asked him to move aside allegedly in a rude manner using abusive language.
When the plaintiff did not pay heed to this, the singer got angry and directed his bouncers to drag the doctor to the stage, the plaint claimed. It further alleged that Mika slapped the doctor which led to bleeding in his eardrum.

It claimed that due to the "illegal and unlawful act" of Mika, the doctor had felt hurt, humiliated and embarrassed as most of the people gathered at the venue were his colleagues and friends.
Mika, in his statement, had said the contents of the suit were based on media reports and denied that he had levelled false allegations against the doctor.
A criminal case was lodged against Mika at Inder Puri Police Station here for alleged offences of causing hurt and wrongful restraint under the IPC.