NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s appeal to dismiss a criminal defamation case related to his controversial statement comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a scorpion.
The rejection by Justice Anup Kumar Mendiratta’s means that the previous interim order halting the proceedings has been overturned, and the parties involved are now required to appear before the trial court on September 10. The court found no sufficient grounds to quash the case at this point, stating, “There are no justifiable reasons to dismiss the proceedings at this stage. ”Tharoor was granted bail in the case in June 2019 by the trial court.
The defamation case was initiated by BJP leader Rajiv Babbar, following Tharoor’s alleged remark made during the Bangalore Literature Festival in November 2018, where he reportedly described Modi as “a scorpion sitting on a Shivling.” The complainant had said, “I am a devotee of Lord Shiva...
However, the accused (Tharoor) completely disregarded the sentiments of crores of Shiva devotees, (and) made the statement which hurt the sentiments of all Lord Shiva devotees, both in India and outside the country.” The complaint was filed under sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Tharoor, however, contended that he was merely echoing a quote from Gordhan Zadaphia, which has been publicly available for several years. His defense argued that Tharoor’s comments were not his own opinions but a repetition of an existing statement and that Babbar, the complainant, lacks standing under Section 499 of the IPC to file the case.
Tharoor’s legal team also asserted that Babbar’s complaint is baseless and misleading, claiming that the trial court’s summons was both erroneous and contrary to criminal jurisprudence principles.
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