Delhi High Court Issues Summons To Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray, Sanjay Raut In Defamation Case By Shinde Faction Leader

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued summons to Maharashtra political leaders Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut in a defamation case filed by Eknath Shinde-faction leader Rahul Shewale.

Justice Prateek Jalan issued summons in the suit 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.

The court also sought response of the defendants, including Google and Twitter, in Shewale’s application seeking interim injunction and listed the matter for hearing on April 17.

Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar appearing for Shewale apprised the court about the allegations and prayed to the court to pass an injunction order to restrain the defendants from making any further defamatory allegations.

However, Justice Jalan said that an order will be passed only after having the response of parties.

“Mr. Nayar, I am not for a moment commenting if the allegations are right or wrong...I am only saying that that question I'll determine after having an affidavit on record… I don't want to pass a gag order on day one,” the court said.

Later, Nayar did not press for an ad interim injunction order and reserved the right to press it at the later stage. 

During the hearing, the court orally remarked: “These are political fights going on... as far as the institutions are concerned, they have to stand for themselves. Election commission's shoulders are broad enough to deal with all this. Like the courts, people say all kinds of things about the courts.”

As Nayar asked court if the conduct of the defendants shocks its conscience, Justice Jalan said:

“It can't be over-symphasized that the language is certainly... the question is, is a person entitled to shock my conscience? The question is not whether it shocks my conscience or not. The question is that in the free marketplace of ideas, are people entitled to say things which might shock my conscience?… Ultimately he will have to stand on his own legs.”

The court clarified that it does not wish to give a prima facie finding at the stage of issuance of summons and wants 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.