Mahesh Bhatt's family demands written apology and Rs 90 Lakh in damages from Luviena Lodh over defamatory statements

The Mahesh Bhatt and Luviena Lodh controversy has witnessed a new turn with the filmmaker's sister Kumkum Saigal and her son Sahil have filed a civil defamation suit against actor Luviena Lodh in Bombay High Court.  Lodh has claimed to be a relative of Mahesh Bhatt and has accused her separated husband Sumit Sabharwal of being involved in the drugs. Luviena had posted videos on social media blaming the entire family for harassing her. Kumkum Saigal and Sahil have moved to the court, seeking a written apology and Rs 90 lakh in damages. They have asked her to withdraw the objectionable video. On the other hand, Sumit Sabherwal has identified himself as an employee of the Bhatts, and not a relative. 

Mahesh Bhatt’s sister and her son had claimed in their suit that Lodh was married to Sumit Sabherwal in 2010 and the couple was staying at their Versova flat – given by Sahil as a gesture of goodwill. A suit is filed because they were not vacating it. An eviction notice had been served this month in this connection and that fearing eviction, Lodh had posted the objectionable video. They have mentioned that the video was uploaded for a cheap publicity stunt. In her earlier Instagram video, running for one minute and a 48-second video, Lodh had also alleged that Amyra Dastur and Sapna Pabbi are among Bollywood stars to whom Sumit Sabharwal regularly supplied drugs. The actress stated that she filed her divorce after learning that her husband supplies drugs to actors like Amyra Dastur and Sapna Pabbi. Earlier, addressing the allegations, Mahesh’s daughter, Pooja Bhatt wrote in a tweet, “Please note that the lady in question is not a ‘relative’ since the man she was married to-Sumit Sabherwal is not MR Bhatt’s nephew as mentioned, nor related to him in any other way. Sumit is a senior production manager/head of production at Vishesh Films.