Court rejects Rane's plea in Raut's defamation case
By : Krishna Mishra
A court here on Wednesday rejected BJP MP Narayan Rane's plea against a summons issued to him in a defamation case filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.
Raut has filed a criminal defamation case against Rane for allegedly making "malicious and false" remarks about him at the Konkan Festival organised in suburban Bhandup on January 15, 2023.
The BJP leader had allegedly said Raut's name did not exist in the voters' list, and he (Rane) had helped the latter get elected to the Rajya Sabha when Rane was with the Shiv Sena.
Taking cognizance of the complaint, a magistrate's court in Mazgaon issued process (summons) to the BJP MP in April.
Rane challenged the summons before the special court for cases against MPs and MLAs, saying no defamation case was made out against him.
The magistrate issued the summons without "assigning any reasons or applying judicial mind", his application said.
On the other hand, Raut's lawyer advocate Sarthak Shetty contended that there was no illegality in the magistrate's order, and there was a clear case of defamation.
The court on Wednesday rejected Rane's plea. The detailed order was not available yet.
The hearing of the defamation case will continue before the magistrate.