‘Police didn’t take defamation plaint against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut under Thackeray govt’s pressure’: BJP leader Kirit Somaiya

Court convicts Sanjay Raut for defamation, BJP leader alleges police bias, Raut sentenced to 15 days in jail.

After a court convicted Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut in defamation case, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Thursday (September 26, 2024) alleged that police had refused to accept his wife’s complaint against Mr. Raut under pressure from the then Uddhav Thackeray Government. A magistrate’s court in Mumbai, earlier in the day, sentenced Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut to 15 days’ imprisonment on a defamation complaint filed by Medha Somaiya, Mr. Somaiya’s wife, and also imposed a fine of ₹25,000. He was later granted bail.

“We had to approach the Court to get our case registered, and after 28 months, we got justice,” Mr. Somaiya said, speaking to reporters in Mumbai along with his wife after the court’s ruling.

“Uddhav Thackeray was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra when Sanjay Raut levelled allegations of ₹100 crore corruption against me and my wife who runs Yuvak Pratishthan, an NGO that consults on toilet construction. The original tender amount was ₹3.61 crore”, he said.

“We tried filing a police complaint against Raut, but it was not accepted because of Thackeray’s pressure. We approached the local court here on May 18, 2022, and today, it gave its judgement,” Mr. Somaiya added.

Also Read: Sanjay Raut’s statements against Medha Somaiya prima facie defamatory, says court; issues summons

Mr. Raut levelled 27 different allegations against him and his family between February and July 2022 but never produced a single document to support them, the BJP leader added.

Ms. Somaiya said she and her husband would not tolerate baseless allegations.