A Mumbai court has refused to discharge Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MP Sanjay Raut in a civil defamation suit filed by MP Rahul Shewale, their former ally.
Shewale filed a defamation complaint against the Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders over an article published in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on December 29, 2022 pertaining to Shewale’s alleged real estate dealings.
Thackeray is the Chief Editor of the daily newspaper, while Raut is its Executive Editor.
Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Sewree S.B. Kale, while rejecting the discharge applications of Thackeray and Raut, listed the matter for November, for recording of the complainant’s evidence.
The court had released the Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders in August, after recording their statement in the case.
Shewale, an MP from Mumbai’s south-central constituency from the rebel Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, had filed a complaint against Uddhav and Raut, alleging that they published defamatory articles against him in the Marathi and Hindi editions of Saamana.
Filed through Advocate Chitra Salunke for offences punishable under Sections 500 (punishment for defamation) and 501 (printing or engraving matter knowing it to be defamatory) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the complaint alleged that the article published on December 29, 2022 had wrongly stated that Shewale had a real estate business in Karachi.
The Magistrate initially directed a police investigation into the complaint under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This was followed by summons issued under Section 204 of CrPC.
Shewale alleged that the articles were a ‘concocted’ story, devoid of any merits and a classic example of ‘vendetta journalism.’
Both Uddhav and Raut claimed in their discharge petitions that they had been falsely accused assuming they had a direct say in Saamana. They contended that the case was filed presuming they controlled the matter selected for publication, which was not the case.