Sanjay Raut charged with sedition for article against PM Modi in 'Saamana'

A case was registered against Raut under Indian Penal Code sections 153 (A), 505 (2) and 124 (A) at Umarkhed police station for promoting enmity between different groups and other offences, the official said.

Yavatmal: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has been booked on the charge of sedition and other offences for writing an objectionable article against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the party mouthpiece Saamana, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The FIR was registered after BJP's Yavatmal district coordinator Nitin Bhutada lodged a complaint against the Rajya Sabha member, who is the executive editor of Saamana, the official said.

Hitting back, Raut accused the BJP of "censorship".

"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," he said.

In the complaint, Bhutada claimed Raut wrote the objectionable article on December 10.

The case was registered on Monday at Umarkhed police station in Yavatmal under sections 124 (A) (sedition), 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) of the Indian Penal Code, the official said.

"We have registered a case based on the complaint and will conduct a probe," he said.

The law on sedition, which provides for a maximum jail term of life under section 124A of the IPC for creating “disaffection towards the government”, was brought into the penal code in 1890, a full 57 years before Independence and almost 30 years after the IPC came into being.