Sessions court grants bail to Sanjay Raut, suspends sentence in defamation case

Mumbai: A sessions court here on Friday granted bail to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and suspended the prison sentence awarded to him by a lower court in a defamation case filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya’s wife Medha Somaiya.

Judge Sanjiv Pingle admitted the revision application filed by the Rajya Sabha member against the trial court’s verdict.

Raut appeared before the sessions court in person on Friday and sought bail.

Advocate Laxman Kanal, Somaiya’s lawyer, told the court that they had no objection to his bail, but it could not be granted until his appeal was admitted.

The court then admitted Raut’s revision plea and granted him bail in the sum of Rs 50,000. The court will hear the final arguments in the matter on January 31, 2025.

Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Aarti Kulkarni on September 26 held Raut guilty of defamation under Indian Penal Code section 500. Besides sentencing him to 15 days in jail, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him.

The magistrate, however, suspended the sentence for 30 days to enable him file an appeal.

Medha Somaiya dragged Raut to court claiming that the Sena (UBT) leader made baseless and defamatory allegations against her and her husband, accusing them of being involved in a Rs 100 crore scam related to the construction of public toilets in the neighbouring Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation area.

The magistrate’s court ruled that Medha Somaiya was a well-qualified and reputed personality. Her image was shattered due the defamatory statements made by Raut and “she suffered mental agony”, the judge held.

Being an MP, Raut has “a high degree of responsibility” while speaking in public, the court said, adding that he made statements against the complainant “without due care and caution.” Raut’s revision application before the sessions court said the magistrate’s order was “bad in law and improper on facts”.