Why Mumbai court sentenced Sanjay Raut to 15-day jail? All about defamation case

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut was on Thursday, September 26, sentenced to 15 days of imprisonment in a case linked to the defamation compliant filed against him by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya’s wife Medha Somaiya. Hours after the conviction and sentencing, a magistrate court in Mumbai granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days.
The case dates back to April 2022. Medha Somaiya had alleged that Sanjay Raut had accused her and husband Kirit Somaiya of being involved in a ₹100 crore scam over the construction and maintenance of some public toilets under the jurisdiction of the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation.
Medha Somaiya also said that the same allegations, which were derogatory and defamatory, were then printed and carried by digital and print media. “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,” the complaint stated.
In his defence, Sanjay Raut, has, however, said that he had pointed out that some work had taken place in Mira Bhayander through ‘Yuvak Pratisthan’, an organisation linked to Kirit Somaiya, and there were irregularities in it.
“If I said this then how have I defamed anyone? Everything is on record. There is also a Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation report. I have only asked questions about whether there is corruption. But the entire judiciary in the country is influenced by the RSS, right from top to bottom,” Sanjay Raut said.
Reacting to the sentencing, Medha Somaiya said, “I am very happy and satisfied because I did not do anything wrong and he [Sanjay Raut] had just falsely accused me. The judiciary has proved us honest and we got justice.”
Kirit Somaiya said, “Today, the punishment has been given to Uddhav Thackeray as Sanjay Raut is leader of his party. They both are now exposed. In 28 months, Sanjay Raut couldn’t bring a single document… He had accused me of being involved in a ₹100 crore scam. The court said that this is the first time and that’s why the sentence is 15 days, if it happens again then the punishment will not be less than 2-5 years.”