A Mumbai court on Thursday sentenced Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut to 15 days of simple imprisonment after convicting him in a defamation case filed by Medha Somaiya, the wife of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. The Sewree Metropolitan Magistrate Court also imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on Raut.
The defamation complaint, filed by Medha Somaiya through her lawyer Vivekanand Gupta, stemmed from accusations made by Raut, in which he alleged that the Somaiyas were involved in a ₹100 crore scam concerning the construction and maintenance of public toilets under the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation.
Somaiya, in her complaint, argued that the allegations were completely baseless and defamatory, stating that Raut’s comments had severely harmed her and her husband’s reputation. “The statements made by the accused to the media are per se defamatory. The statements have been made to malign my character in the eyes of the general public,” she said in her complaint.
Raut was convicted under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (punishment for defamation). The case had drawn significant attention due to the political stature of both Raut and the Somaiyas.
Raut, a member of the Rajya Sabha and a prominent leader of the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, has yet to comment publicly on the court’s verdict.
This legal development marks another chapter in the ongoing political rivalry between Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra.
