Uddhav, Raut appear before Mazgaon court over defamation case

Former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and MP Sanjay Raut pleaded not guilty in a defamation case filed by Shiv Sena leader Rahul Shewale over an article published in Saamana.

MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and his party MP Sanjay Raut appeared before the metropolitan magistrate court at Mazgaon and pleaded not guilty in the defamation complaint filed by Shiv Sena leader Rahul Shewale over an allegedly defamatory article published in Sena’s (UBT) mouthpiece, Saamana, against him.

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Taking cognisance of Shewale’s complaint, the magistrate court had on June 26, summoned Thackeray and Raut in the defamation case.

Honouring the summons, Raut appeared before the magistrate court in person while Thackeray appeared through video conferencing. The court would now begin recording evidence from next month.

The court on Monday formally granted them bail.

Saamana had in their edition of December 29, 2022, carried an article stating that Shewale, who has become group leader in Lok Sabha after joining the Eknath Shinde faction, has a hotel in Karachi, Pakistan, and also has real estate business there.

In the complaint filed through his advocate, Chitra Salunkhe, Shewale claimed that he was shocked and distressed after reading the said article.

“The complainant strongly refuted all the allegations made in the said articles and categorically stated that this is merely a feeble attempt to damage the reputation and political career of the complainant by levelling false accusations against him to malign his image before the public at large,” Shewale said in his complaint.

He added that the articles published in Hindi and Marathi editions of the publication were concocted and devoid of any merit and a classic example of vendetta journalism.

Shewale further stated that Thackeray and Raut, who is also the editor of Saamana, were fully aware that he, being a Member of Parliament, was a respectable public figure. Therefore, such defamatory, frivolous and false articles not only severely hamper his reputation but also hurt the sentiments of thousands of people who hold him in high regard, his plea said.