A Mumbai court on Thursday convicted Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut in a defamation case filed by Medha Somaiya, wife of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, and sentenced him to 15 days of simple imprisonment. However, the court later suspended the sentence for 30 days and granted bail to the Rajya Sabha MP after he filed a bail application.
“The defamation case was filed by Dr Medha Kirit Somaiya, wife of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. The court ordered 15-day imprisonment for Sanjay Raut and also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000,” Vivekanand Gupta, advocate representing Dr Medha, told ANI.
Gupta further said that Raut was found guilty under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the magistrate court in Mazgaon.
In her complaint, Medha said Raut had made statements about her on April 15 and April 16, 2022, carried in newspapers, which were defamatory and incorrect. She had submitted documents and video clips claiming that Raut made the statements to media channels, Indian Express reported.
Medha accused him of making baseless and defamatory allegations that she and her husband were involved in a Rs 100 crore scam related to the construction and maintenance of public toilets in Mira Bhayandar.
She had sought an unconditional apology and a permanent injunction against Raut, restraining him from publishing, circulating, and printing material defamatory to her, in the future.
(With inputs from ANI)
