A fresh legal controversy has emerged in the high-profile Ketan Agarwal murder case after Advocate Aashutosh Srivastava, who claims to represent prime accused Siya Goyal, issued a ₹10 crore defamation notice to her brother, Sahil Goyal, alleging that his public statements questioning the advocate’s authority to appear for Siya have caused serious reputational and professional harm.

The dispute stems from Sahil Goyal’s public assertion that Advocate Srivastava had not been appointed by the family and that Advocate Vipul Dushing was representing Siya Goyal in the criminal proceedings.

In the legal notice, he mentioned that he was lawfully engaged by Siya Goyal through a duly executed vakalatnama, asserting that the authority to appoint counsel rested with Siya as an adult accused and did not require the approval of her family.

The notice alleges that the remarks resulted in loss of professional goodwill, reputational harm, mental trauma, diminished confidence among existing and prospective clients, and increased personal risk owing to the media narrative.

Adv Srivastava has called upon Sahil Goyal to withdraw the allegedly defamatory statements and video clips from social media and other platforms, issue an unconditional written apology and public retraction within 48 hours, furnish a written undertaking not to repeat such statements in future, and pay ₹10 crore as damages within seven days, failing which appropriate civil and criminal proceedings would be initiated.

The dispute unfolds alongside the ongoing investigation into the alleged murder of Pune businessman Ketan Agarwal, in which Siya Goyal and co-accused Chetan Chaudhary are accused of pushing Ketan Agarwal off a cliff at Lohagad Fort. The accused remain in police custody as investigators continue to reconstruct the crime scene and examine digital and other evidence.