Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray Acquitted in 2009 Defamation Case

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray have been acquitted by a magistrate court in Kalyan in a 2009 case related to defamation and violation of election law. The case dates back to the time when the two leaders were in the same political party. Joint Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class Santosh A. Ange pronounced the verdict in the case on 23 September 2026. The copy of the verdict was made available on Thursday. The court acquitted all the surviving accused, including Shinde and Thackeray, of charges under Sections 171 (g), 500 and 501 of the Indian Penal Code. The charges under these sections related to making false election-related statements, publishing defamatory and defamatory material. Former MP Anand Paranjape and Shiv Sena leader Ramakant Deolekar have also been acquitted in the case. The fifth accused, Sai Balaram Dharmdasani, died during the trial, after which the case against him was closed. The case dates back to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The late Kalyan Shankar had filed a complaint on 22 April 2009 that the accused had allegedly found the CD of a political campaign during a rally.