Court rejects discharge plea of Uddhav Thackeray, Sanjay Raut in defamation case filed by Rahul Shewale

A court here dismissed the discharge petition submitted by Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and party MP Sanjay Raut in a defamation case brought against them by their rival Shiv Sena faction leader, Rahul Shewale.

In his complaint, Shewale has accused them of publishing defamatory articles against him in Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana. While Thackeray is the editor of Saamana, Raut is its executive editor. Shewale is the group leader of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the Lok Sabha.

The plea filed by former Maharashtra chief minister Thackeray and Rajya Sabha member Raut seeking discharge in the case was rejected by the metropolitan magistrate (Mazgaon court) S B Kale. The court’s detailed order was not yet available. The court adjourned the matter till November 9 for recording of the evidence.

Shewale has sought action against the two leaders under the Indian Penal Code sections 500 (punishment for defamation) and 501 (printing or engraving matter knowing it to be defamatory) for publishing defamatory articles against him in the Marathi and Hindi editions of Saamana.

Thackeray and Raut, in their discharge application, had said that there was no iota of evidence against them. They claimed to be innocent and said they were falsely implicated in the alleged offence based on suspicion.

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, his plea said.