Defamation case by Medha Somaiya: Bailable warrant issued against Sanjay Raut

Medha, wife of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya, filed the complaint against Raut for allegedly making statements claiming that she was involved in a ₹100-crore fraud

A metropolitan magistrate court at Mazgaon on Monday issued a bailable warrant against senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut after the Rajya Sabha MP failed to appear before the court in a criminal defamation complaint filed against him by Medha Somaiya, the wife of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya.

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. (PTI Photo)

Medha filed the complaint against Raut for allegedly making ‘malicious’ statements claiming she was involved in a ₹100-crore ‘toilet construction fraud’.

The magistrate court has posted the matter for further hearing on July 18, when Raut is expected to appear and get the warrant cancelled.

The court on June 10 issued a process against Raut following her complaint, observing that the documents and video clips submitted by the complainant prima facie reveal that defamatory statements were made against her on 15/04/2022 and 16/04/2022. “Prima facie, Sanjay Raut had harmed the reputation of the complainant,” the court added.

Issuance of process marks the beginning of criminal proceedings before a magistrate court in non-cognisable cases.

Medha Somaiya filed the criminal case after she came across the alleged defamatory article in Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, wherein she was accused of building unauthorised toilets by cutting mangroves without getting the requisite permissions from environmental authorities. The article further stated that she was involved in a ₹100-crore scam, allegedly perpetuated through their NGO named ‘Yuva Pratishthan’.”

Apart from the article, she alleged that Raut also gave bites to electronic media and repeated the allegations the next day – April 16. She submitted the video clips of Raut’s bites to the court to back her claims.

The complainant said the allegations were widely telecast by leading news channels and were made only with an intention to tarnish her image, who has worked as a professor of organic chemistry and has been associated with prestigious institutions such as the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).