Delhi HC issues notice to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in former BJP minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s defamation plea

The magistrate court, in its order, had concluded that Tharoor “cannot be seen to impute” that Chandrashekhar has bribed any voter and that the interview was shown out of context.

Chandrashekhar, a former Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka from 2006 to 2024, had claimed that Tharoor’s statements had tarnished his image and had contributed to him losing the elections. Chandrasekhar, in the 2024 polls, lost the Thiruvananthapuram seat to Tharoor by a margin of over 16,000 votes.

Justice Ravinder Dudeja, recording that the matter requires consideration, issued notice and kept it returnable for September 16.

In February, in a separate plea by Chandrasekhar, the Delhi HC had also issued summons to Tharoor in a civil defamation suit, with Chandrasekhar seeking damages for loss of reputation in society and a permanent injunction against Tharoor.

The legal tussle had begun in April 2024 when Chandrasekhar had sent a legal notice to Tharoor asking the latter to withdraw his earlier allegations and to issue an unconditional apology. However, according to Chandrasekhar, Tharoor failed to withdraw such statements, and the videos of the interview continued to be in circulation.

He had then moved the Patiala court with a criminal defamation suit.

In August 2024, the Delhi HC had transferred the criminal defamation suit filed by Chandrasekhar against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor from the Patiala district court to before district sessions judge of Rouse Avenue court, while directing the parties to “appear in person” later that month.

In September 2024, the Rouse Avenue court took cognisance of the defamation complaint and initiated proceedings, and the court is yet to decide if it will issue a summons to Tharoor in the criminal complaint case or not.