No illegality in magistrate's order: Court denies relief to Uddhav, Raut

A special court here has held there was no illegality in a magistrate's order that refused to discharge Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut in a defamation case filed by former Lok Sabha MP Rahul Shewale.

The special judge for cases against MPs and MLAs, A U Kadam, made the observations while dismissing a joint appeal of Thackeray and Raut against the lower court's order.

"The magistrate gave cogent reasons for recording a finding that offences are prima facie made out," the special court said in the order on Monday. The copy of the order became available on Tuesday. "...an inference is inevitable that there is no illegality or mistake found to be committed by the trial court," the judge said.

Denying the duo's revision application, the special judge directed that the case be sent to the trial (magistrate) court for further proceedings. Shewale, part of the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, has sought action against Thackeray and Raut under Indian Penal Code section 500 (defamation) for publishing "defamatory articles" against him in the Marathi and Hindi editions of Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

Shewale has taken objection to articles, published on December 29, 2022, alleging he had hotel and real estate businesses in Karachi in Pakistan. As per Shewale's plea, filed in January last year through advocate Chitra Salunkhe, the articles were "concocted" and "devoid of any merit".

Claiming innocence, Thackeray and Raut filed a discharge application before a magistrate court. The magistrate rejected their pleas in October 2023, saying CrPC does not contain any specific provision for discharge of the accused after issue of process in summary cases.