Common For Politicians To Comment On Each Other, Public Figures Can’t Be Thin-Skinned: Aaditya Thackeray On Defamation Case By Shinde Faction Leader

Opposing a defamation case filed by Eknath Shinde-faction leader Rahul Shewale, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Monday told the Delhi High Court that it is a regular practice for politicians to comment on each other’s conduct in political discourse and that public figures cannot be allowed to be thin-skinned “as it would entirely stifle all criticism of them.”

Thackeray said that as public figures, politicians such as Shewale ought to take the “bouquets as well as brickbats.”

"The Prime Minister of the country has been referred by various allegedly defamatory names by the opposition and he himself has in political speeches referred to Opposition Leader Shashi Tharoor's late wife as ... and Mrs Gandhi as .... Political speech while not always palatable is by its very nature hyperbolic and this phenomenon is not unique to the Plaintiff or the Defendant No. 3. (Aaditya Thackeray)," he said in a written response before the court.

The submissions were made in response to the suit filed filed by Shewale against certain statements made by Thackerays and Raut alleging that Eknath Shinde faction "bought the Shiv Sena symbol" for Rs. 2000 crores. Maharashtra political leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut are also defendants in the case.

Aaditya Thackery has further said that even though Shewale alleged that the defendants made defamatory statements regarding the functioning of Election Commission of India, he has cited no example of personal injury or injury to his own reputation.

“Such statements are permissible in political discourse as every political party makes such remarks against their political rivals with a view to garner both votes and eyeballs not to mention voice the views of their respective electorates. Therefore, the Plaintiff needs to have a thick skin and cannot rush to court every time a remark is made that he disagrees with or is seemingly against him. As stated above, the Plaintiff himself is in the habit of making unsavory remarks,” the reply states.

It has further been submitted that the alleged defamatory statements quoted by Shewale pertain to comments made by the defendants in political discourse and therefore, he cannot be personally affected by the statements made on the conduct of a political party or a constitutional body.

During the course of hearing today, Justice Prateek Jalan was informed that the Thackerays and Raut have filed their responses in the matter.

The court allowed the applications filed by the defendants for condonation of delay in filing the replies and took their responses on record.

While listing the matter for hearing on May 11, the court permitted Shewale to file a rejoinder, if any.

Senior Advocate Devadutt Kamat appeared for Sanjay Raut. Advocates Naman Joshi and Karan Khanuja appeared for Aaditya Thackeray. 

Senior Advocates Rajiv Nayar and Arvind Varma assisted by Advocates Chirag J Shah, Utsav Trivedi, Himanshu Sachdeva, Manini Roy, Chaitali Jugran appeared for Rahul Shewale.

The court had issued summons in the suit on March 28. However, it had clarified that it does not wish to give a prima facie finding at the stage of issuance of summons and wanted to give an opportunity to the defendants and go through their responses.

As per a PTI report, Sanjay Raut claimed that a "deal of Rs 2000 crore" has taken place so far to "purchase" the Shiv Sena party name and its bow and arrow symbol.

Title: Rahul Ramesh Shewale v. Sanjay Raut & Ors