The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed proceedings against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor before a trial court here in a defamation case filed against him for his alleged “scorpion” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Justice Suresh Kumar Kait passed the direction while hearing the plea of the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram challenging the trial court order summoning him in the defamation complaint filed by Delhi BJP leader Rajeev Babbar.
Next hearing
The High Court has posted the case for further hearing on December 9.
Mr Tharoor has sought quashing of the April 27, 2019 order of a trial court summoning him on the criminal defamation complaint filed in 2018 by Mr. Babbar who said his religious sentiments were hurt by the Congress leader’s statement.
Mr. Tharoor had allegedly claimed in October 2018 that an unnamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader had compared Mr. Modi to “a scorpion sitting on a shivling”.
The former Union Minister has also sought quashing of the complaint. The complaint was filed under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, relating to defamation.
In June 2019, a Delhi court had granted bail to Mr. Tharoor in relation to the case.
Mr. Babbar, in his complaint, stated that Mr. Tharoor made the alleged scandalous remarks at the Bangalore Literature Festival on October 28.
He said Mr. Tharoor’s statement was not only “an abuse of the Hindu deity but also defamatory and an insult to BJP workers, supporters and leaders”. He added that his religious sentiments were hurt by the statement as it was not only “baseless but also misleading and defamatory”.
