Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has moved the sessions court, challenging the order sentencing him to 15 days in prison for allegedly defaming BJP leader Kirit Somaiya’s wife Dr Medha Somaiya.
In his plea, Raut has claimed that the magistrate court has failed to consider several facts while convicting him. However, on Thursday, when the appeal was scheduled for hearing, Raut failed to appear.
His lawyer Manoj Pingale contended that the leader was busy with the state elections and pleaded that his bail should be extended. Pingale assured the court that Raut would appear in the next hearing.
Metropolitan magistrate Aarti Kulkarni had suspended Raut’s sentence and Rs 25,000 compensation to Medha Somaiya while granting bail. The court had said that Raut did not take due care and caution while making the statement against Dr Somaiya at a press conference on April 15, 2022.
He had made allegations of her involvement in a scam in construction of toilets in Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation. He had repeated the allegations the next day, which the complainant claimed was telecast on various channels and published in Marathi and English newspapers.
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In his defence, Raut claimed that his statement was based on a report submitted by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation and a letter written by MLA Pratap Sarnaik and corporator Pravin Patil. The court said the documents are not duly proved.