Pune, June 30: A fresh legal dispute has emerged in the Ketan Agarwal murder case, with Advocate Ashutosh Srivastava, who claims to be representing accused Siya Goyal, issuing a legal notice seeking Rs 10 crore in damages from her brother, Sahil Goyal, over alleged defamatory statements.

In the notice, Advocate Srivastava stated that Siya Goyal had formally appointed him as her legal counsel through a duly executed vakalatnama (authorisation letter).

“Ms. Siya Goyal has duly executed and signed the Vakalatnama/authority in my favour for her legal defence. The said appointment was not an oral claim, not a media projection and not an unauthorised assertion, but a legal authority voluntarily given by an adult accused/client. The original/signed Vakalatnama is already filed before the competent court and her additional signed original copies of the relevant documents shall be produced before the appropriate forum/Court of law as and when required,” the notice stated.

The notice alleges that Sahil Goyal made false, misleading, and defamatory statements against Srivastava through the media, causing serious harm to his professional reputation and public image.

According to the legal notice, Srivastava’s vakalatnama has already been accepted and placed on record before the Vadgaon Maval Court. Despite this, it claims that Sahil publicly questioned his authority to represent Siya Goyal without first verifying the legal documents or contacting him.

“It is appalling, distressing and shocking that, instead of first verifying the authenticity and legality of the Vakalatnama duly filed on record or without having any conversation with us, you blatantly, irresponsibly, maliciously and fraudulently issued a public/media statement suggesting that I was not appointed or authorised by the family members,” the notice read.

The notice further contends that the statements created a false impression that Srivastava had falsely claimed authority to represent the accused or had acted improperly, thereby exposing him to ridicule, trolling, threats, hostile phone calls, professional embarrassment, and reputational damage.

Through the notice, Sahil Goyal has been asked to immediately withdraw the alleged defamatory statements, issue a public apology, and provide a written undertaking that he will refrain from making similar allegations in the future.

The notice also warns that if no satisfactory response is received within the stipulated time, Srivastava will initiate appropriate legal proceedings, including a civil claim seeking Rs 10 crore in damages for alleged defamation and reputational loss.

The legal notice marks a new development in the high-profile Ketan Agarwal murder case, adding a separate legal dispute between the accused’s family and the lawyer claiming to represent one of the accused.

The controversy began ahead of a court hearing in the case on Monday, when Sahil Goyal publicly questioned Srivastava’s authority to represent his sister.

Speaking to the media, Sahil alleged that Srivastava had neither been appointed nor authorised by the family and claimed that he may have obtained Siya Goyal’s signature “by deceit”.

Sahil’s remarks came after Srivastava made multiple media appearances in which he identified himself as Siya Goyal’s legal counsel and spoke on matters related to the case.

However, Sahil Goyal maintained that the family had not hired Srivastava as their lawyer and asserted that Advocate Vipul Dushing had been appointed to represent them. He also stated that the family had filed an affidavit before the court regarding the issue and alleged that Srivastava had issued threats to them.

As per the instructions of the Election Commission of India, a Special Revision (SIR) programme of voter lists is being implemented in the Mumbai region (Mumbai city and suburbs). Under this, Polling Station Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct house visits between June 30 and July 29, 2026. District Election Officer and Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide has appealed to voters to cooperate by providing necessary information to the concerned BLOs.

Under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rules Programme, Polling Station Level Officers (BLOs) will provide voters with their enumeration forms during their house visits. The forms have to be filled with the required information, signed and a copy returned to the BLOs. Before the home visit, if possible, voters should search for their or their parents’ details (name, constituency, voter list part number, serial number) in the Special Revision of Previous Electoral Rolls (SIR) on the website https://voters.eci.gov.in or EC Net App. However, if your or your parents’ name is not in the Special Revision of Previous Electoral Rolls (SIR), you should produce any one of the following documents: Birth Certificate, Passport, Class 10 (Matric) or Educational Certificate, Resident Certificate, Caste Certificate, Government or Public Sector Employee/Pensioner Identity Card, Identity Card issued by the Family Authority, All documents of family registration. Government, Forest Rights Certificate, Proof of National Citizen Registration; Identity Card/Certificate issued by a bank, post office, Life Insurance Corporation or Government before July 1, 1987 or Aadhaar Card. The administration has also said that you should carry your recent passport size photograph. This is being reported. To know your details in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of previous voter lists, visit the official website of the Election Commission or click on the link https://voters.eci.gov.in/searchInSIR/S2UA4DPDF-JK4QWODSE. For more information, contact the nearest Voter Registration Officer’s office or helpline number 1800 22 1850 and make the revision of voter lists successful.

Mumbai: The Pune Special Court today delivered its historic verdict in the Nasrapur rape and murder case under Bhor taluka of Pune district on June 29, 2026. The court has sentenced 65-year-old accused Bhimrao Prabhakar Kamble to death by hanging, considering this atrocity a major case. After this highly sensitive and major verdict, senior Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi raised serious questions about the current law and order situation in the state when asked questions by journalists in the Vidhan Bhawan area during the monsoon session. He said that there has been a huge increase in serious incidents like violence against women, rape, loot and murder in the state, due to which the law and order situation has become extremely worrying. Welcoming the Pune court’s verdict and expressing deep concern over the issue of women’s safety, MLA Abu Azmi said that immediate action should be taken against the accused of such serious crimes. Talking about the delay in the justice system, he gave the example of Gulf countries and said that in our country, cases are pending for years, on the contrary, in Gulf countries, the accused are sent to jail within four days and after paying a heavy fine, they are directly sent out of the country. In our country, the punishment for inhuman acts like rape and murder should be death only. He stressed that if 10 to 15 criminals are hanged immediately without any delay, then fear of law will be created among such criminals and incidents will be controlled. Directly targeting the security system and functioning of the police in Mumbai, MLA Azmi made serious allegations of corruption and negligence. He said that he himself has caught police personnel red-handed and has also shown strong evidence and photographs of it. He further said that a ‘police bat’ has been set up for the security of the city, but the police personnel are not present at any post and when asked, the excuse of shortage of staff is made. Expressing his anger, he said that if the government and police administration perform their duties responsibly, not a single person in the state can buy or sell drugs, but the current government is not committed to it. Expressing concern over the spread of drugs and drug networks in the state, he said that it is completely ruining our young generation. Earlier, the Chief Minister had promised to create an ‘anti-drug zone’ under every police station, but no concrete action is seen on this. The alarm bell is that the fear of law has disappeared and even minor disputes are leading to open attacks and assaults on the streets. At the end of the press conference, he mentioned a suspect caught in the backdrop of Muharram from whom 15,000 banned poisonous pills were recovered. Abu Asim Azmi demanded that the government conduct a thorough investigation into the entire matter and take strict action against whoever is found guilty.