Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has been booked by three state police, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, for peddling fake news. However, series of FIRs did not stop Tharoor from casting aspersions on rioter Navreet’s autopsy report. On 31 January, Tharoor tweeted that Navreet’s autopsy report allegedly showed a hole in his chin and another hole in his ear ossicles. He further questioned if the doctors are being gagged.
Tharoor was quoting a report done by The Wire in the first tweet that resulted in FIRs against The Wire Editor Siddharth Varadarajan. In the second tweet, he had mentioned a report by the Times of India that alleged bullet injury.
In fact, the TOI report cites CMO Manoj Shukla who said that the wounds mentioned could be due to the accelerated collision with the floor. Also, rioter Navreet died after the tractor he was driving to break police barricades turned turtle. The report further repeats the same comment by Navreet’s parents who claimed that ‘one of the doctors’ who conducted the autopsy found the bullet injury visible.
The doctors, however, have denied having talked to anyone in the media or otherwise.
FIRs against Shashi Tharoor
After Tharoor and Rajdeep Sardesai, and other left-leaning liberals claimed that the rioter Navreet died due to bullet injury on Republic Day, Uttar Pradesh Police registered an FIR against him under section 154 of CrPC. The FIR named Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, India Today journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, National Herald’s Senior consulting editor Mrinal Pandey, Quami Awaz editor Zafar Agha, Caravan magazine’s editor and founder Paresh Nath, Caravan editor Anant Nath and its executive editor Vinod K Jose, and one unnamed person.
Delhi Police has registered FIR at the IP Estate police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153 (provocation to cause riot), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) and 505-1b (intent to cause fear to the public) against Tharoor and Sardesai. The FIR also included journalists Paresh Nath, Anant Nath, Vinod K Jose, Mrinal Pande, and Zafar Agha.
The Madhya Pradesh Police, too, had filed an FIR against Tharoor and six others for fake news on the rioter’s death who died after his tractor turned turtle.