A Mumbai court has issued a temporary order restraining director Abhinav Kashyap from making or publishing any "derogatory" comments against Salman Khan and his family. The order was passed on Friday by Judge P G Bhosale while hearing a defamation lawsuit filed by Khan. The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction and ₹9 crore in damages.

The lawsuit claims that Kashyap made "scandalous, false, and grossly defamatory" statements against Khan and his family in a series of 26 video interviews and podcasts released between September and December 2025. These videos were broadcast on the "Bollywood Thikana" channel. According to the suit, the videos contain derogatory remarks that target Khan's professional integrity and personal character, as well as his family members.

Some of the statements highlighted in the suit include Kashyap's alleged reference to the Khan family as "convicted criminals" and members of a "jihadi ecosystem". It also cited instances where Kashyap used offensive language to describe Khan's appearance, age, and personal life, and allegedly compared him to notorious criminals. Specific derogatory remarks were reportedly made against Khan's father, Salim Khan, and siblings Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan.

Khan's lawsuit, filed through advocate Pradeep Gandhi, seeks to permanently restrain Kashyap and others from publishing any further defamatory content or interviews. It also requests that the defendants and social media platforms immediately remove all contentious content and issue an unconditional apology. Khan also sought urgent interim relief from the court.

The court found Kashyap's statements in the interviews and podcasts to be "prima facie defamatory, derogatory, abusive, and insulting in nature". The court asserted that these statements lowered Khan's image in the eyes of the general public and harmed his reputation.

The court clarified that the right to freedom of speech and expression does not mean one can use abusive and threatening language against any individual. It emphasized that "nobody can and nobody should make any defamatory statements against anybody's family" and that "each individual has his privacy to be protected and image to be protected".

The court's order temporarily restrains Kashyap and others from making, uploading videos, posting, re-posting, giving interviews, corresponding, communicating, uploading, printing, publishing, re-publishing, hosting, circulating, or re-circulating any further defamatory or slanderous content. It also bars them from making any further defamatory content, derogatory remarks, posts, messages, tweets, videos, interviews, or communications in relation to Khan or his family on any social media platforms until they appear and file their reply.

This legal action follows previous accusations made by Kashyap against Salman Khan and his family. In 2020, Kashyap alleged that the Khan family had sabotaged his career. Sohail Khan also filed a defamation case against Kashyap in 2020.