The Bombay High Court on Friday issued a notice to Sanjay Raut on an appeal filed by Medha Somaiya challenging a sessions court order that acquitted the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader in a defamation case.
Medha Somaiya had filed a criminal defamation complaint before a magistrate’s court through advocate Laxman Kanal, alleging that Raut made baseless and defamatory statements in the media against her and her husband, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, in 2022.
She alleged that Raut accused the couple of involvement in a Rs 100 crore scam related to the construction of public toilets in the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation area.
On September 26 last year, a judicial magistrate had held Raut guilty of defamation under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code. The court sentenced him to 15 days in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000.
Raut later challenged the magistrate’s ruling before a sessions court designated for cases involving MPs and MLAs.
In February this year, the sessions court overturned the conviction and acquitted Raut, observing that it could not be conclusively established that the allegedly defamatory article had been published at his instructions.
The court also clarified that as the executive editor of Saamana, Raut could not be held legally responsible for every article published in the newspaper.
Medha Somaiya subsequently approached the high court in April, contending that the sessions court order was legally flawed and unsustainable.
A single bench of Justice S G Dige issued notice to Raut and scheduled the next hearing for June 18.
