19 December,2023 06:50 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Sanjay Raut/ PTI
The Maharashtra police have withdrawn the sedition charge from the case lodged against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut over an allegedly objectionable article against Prime Minister Narendra Modi published in his party's publication Saamana, an official told news agency PTI on Tuesday.
Saamana's executive editor is Sanjay Raut.
The official said that the decision to remove Raut's sedition allegation was made after discussions and legal advice.
The Yavatmal district police initially filed a case against the Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member on December 11, citing Raut's alleged statements against Prime Minister Modi in his weekly column known as 'Rokh Thok' in Saamana. Sections 124 (A) (sedition), 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different communities), and 505 (2) (statements fostering or inciting enmity) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were cited in the complaint against Raut.
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The district coordinator of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Yavatmal filed the complaint that resulted in the filing of the FIR.
The police official stated the decision was made after legal counsel. He further emphasised that, after consulting with a public prosecutor, this decision was made based on prior decisions rendered by the Supreme Court.
"After seeking legal opinion in the case, the police decided to drop the sedition charge from the case. The Supreme Court has earlier passed rulings in this regard and after consulting a public prosecutor, the police took this decision of dropping the sedition charge," the official told PTI.
The officer said that an investigation is presently underway in this case.
A full 57 years before Independence and over 30 years after the Indian Penal Code was created, in 1890, the statute on sedition - which stipulates a maximum jail sentence of life for inciting "disaffection towards the government" - was added to the penal code.
FIR against Raut
Reportedly, the FIR was registered after Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Yavatmal district coordinator Nitin Bhutada complained against Raut claiming that he wrote an objectionable article against PM Modi on December 10.
Meanwhile, Raut hit back at them saying, "The BJP had no right to say that it stood up against the Emergency because the fight was against such kind of censorship. The criticism in Saamana is political."
With PTI inputs
