On Thursday, a magistrate’s court in Mumbai convicted Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut in a defamation case filed by Medha Somaiya, the wife of former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya. Medha Somaiya’s Lawyer Vivekanand Gupta said that Raut was found guilty under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the magistrate court in Mazgaon.
Gupta said, ‘The court has sentenced Raut to 15 days imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000’. Raut said, ‘How can people like us who raise their voices against corruption and other irregularities get a justice in a country when Prime Minister of the country goes to chief justice’s house to have Modaks during Ganpati festival?’
A professor of Organic Chemistry at Ruia College in Mumbai, Medha Somaiya had said in her complaint that Raut made completely defamatory allegations against her and her husband. She had sought action against the Shiv Sena (UBT) MP for his allegations that she was involved in a Rs 100 crore toilet scam carried out by her and her NGO Yuva Pratishthan.
The compliant of Medha Somaiya’s, filed through advocate Vivekanand Gupta, said that since April 2022, Raut had given malicious and unwarranted mischievous statements to the media against her and the same was printed, published, and circulated to the public at large through print and electronic media. The statements were also shared widely on the social media platforms, she said in the complaint.
Sunil Raut, Raut’s lawyer and his brother said that they have filed a bail plea and will appeal against the order in Mumbai Sessions court. She said in her plea that an article in Sena’s mouthpiece newspaper Saamana accused the Somaiyas of a ‘toilet scam’ in the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation. She said that the allegations in the article and other media after the story was published in Saamana were without evidence and made with an intention to malign her reputation.
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