Shristy Kamal, Pune
On Thursday, a Mumbai court granted bail to Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut following his conviction in a defamation case filed by BJP leader Medha Somaiya, wife of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. Judge Aarti Kulkarni, a Judicial Magistrate (First Class) found Raut guilty of defamation under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to 15 days in simple imprisonment.
The Rajya Sabha member was also fined INR 25,000 by the court. Raut’s sentence was suspended for thirty days allowing him to file an appeal. His attorney requested bail and a sentencing suspension both of which were approved. The allegations made by Raut which purportedly connected Medha and Kirit Somaiya to an INR 100 crore scam involving the building and upkeep of public restrooms in the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation resulted in the defamation lawsuit.
According to her attorney Vivekanand Gupta, Medha Somaiya, in her complaint stated that Raut’s remarks to the media were intended to damage her reputation and were slanderous. She alleged that the remarks made against her were publicized across print and online media. As evidence, various paper cuttings and videos were submitted to the court by her lawyer.
In response to the court’s ruling, Kirit Somaiya claimed that since Raut is a significant figure in Uddhav Thackeray’s party and the sentence affected Thackeray as a whole. Raut was further censured by Somaiya for not providing any evidence in the trial citing that Sanjay Raut couldn’t bring a single document in 28 months. He added that the court acknowledged that this was a first-time offense and imposed a 15-day sentence but warned of harsher penalties for any subsequent infractions.
Kirit Somaiya further claimed that government pressure stopped the police from investigating his wife’s complaint against Raut when Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister of Maharashtra. She said that they attempted to report the incident to the police but because of Thackeray’s influence, it was not accepted.
On May 18, 2022, they approached the court which passed its judgment, Somaiya added. The case against Raut will set an example for society, she said. Adding to it, she vowed to fight back against any attempt to discredit her or her organization.