THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, August 29: The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected the plea to dismiss the defamation case against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.
The case involves Tharoor’s 2018 remark comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a “scorpion sitting on a Shivling” at the Bangalore Literature Festival.
Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta turned down Tharoor’s request to quash the defamation proceedings.
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Parties directed to appear before trial court on Sept 10
The high court, which had paused the criminal proceedings against Tharoor on October 16, 2020, has now lifted the stay and ordered the parties to appear in the trial court on September 10.
The judge stated, “No grounds are made out for quashing the proceedings,” while delivering the order.
Complaint filed by Rajeev Babbar
In April 2019, a trial court issued a summons for Tharoor following a criminal defamation complaint lodged by Delhi BJP leader Rajeev Babbar in 2018. Tharoor was granted bail by a Delhi court in June 2019.
Babbar filed the criminal complaint against Tharoor in the trial court, alleging that the Congress leader’s statement had hurt his religious sentiments.
What remarks did Tharoor made?
At the Bangalore Literature Festival in October 2018, Tharoor claimed that an unnamed RSS leader had compared Prime Minister Modi to “a scorpion sitting on a Shivling,” calling it an “extraordinarily striking metaphor.”
The complaint was registered under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
