SC stays defamation proceedings against Shashi Tharoor over remarks against PM Modi

Shashi Tharoor moved a plea before the Delhi High Court in 2020 challenging defamation proceedings against him based on a complaint by BJP leader Rajiv Babbar.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. (File Photo)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the proceedings in the criminal defamation case filed by a BJP leader against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over certain remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tharoor had approached the top court challenging the August 29 Delhi High Court order dismissing his plea to quash the proceedings.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan issued notice on his appeal and stayed the proceedings.

Appearing for the senior Congress leader, Advocate Mohammed Ali Khan informed the court that he had only quoted from an article published by the Caravan Magazine in 2012 that contained an alleged remark by an unnamed RSS leader comparing Narendra Modi to “a scorpion sitting on a Shivling”.

The counsel wondered how the remark became defamatory in 2018 when it was not so in 2012.

Justice Roy remarked that the comment was a metaphor for the invincibility of a person. “Eventually, it is a metaphor. The metaphor would refer to the invincibility of the person who is spoken about. Can’t the metaphor not be understood as pointing out the invincibility of the person?” asked Justice Roy.

Pointing out that a metaphor could be understood in many ways, Justice Roy said, “I don’t know why somebody has taken objection to this”.

While dismissing Tharoor’s plea in August, the Delhi High said that “no grounds are made out for quashing” the defamation proceedings and that it is expedient that the trial court continues the proceedings.

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Shashi Tharoor moved a plea before the Delhi High Court in 2020 challenging defamation proceedings against him based on a complaint by BJP leader Rajiv Babbar, who was vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit. The Congress leader challenged the summons issued to him by a magisterial trial court in the case and setting aside the order dated April 27, 2019, wherein he was summoned as an accused.

Ananthakrishnan G

Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read More

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