The Supreme Court on Friday favoured closing a criminal defamation case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over his 2018 “scorpion sitting on a Shivling” remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as it advised the complainant not to be “touchy” about such comments.
“Why do you want to be so touchy about this. Let us close this,” a bench of justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh said, as it posted the matter for hearing on September 15.
The court added: “That way, administrators, political personalities and judges are in the same group. They are sufficiently thick-skinned.”
During the Bangalore Literature Festival on October 28, 2018,Tharoor had allegedly compared Modi to a scorpion, following which Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Babbar filed a complaint against the Thiruvananthapuram MP in 2019.Babbar claimed that the remark not only targeted the Prime Minister but also amounted to vilification of the faith of millions of devotees of Lord Shiva. He further accused Tharoor of hurting religious sentiments and disparaging the Prime Minister.
Tharoor has, however, maintained that the remark was borrowed from an article published in 2012, when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. In his petition, Tharoor contended that Babbar’s complaint was not legally maintainable as he is not an “aggrieved person” under the law, especially since the person directly referred to in the statement had not taken any legal action. He also relied on the exception under the law on defamation that exempts any comment made in good faith.
{{/usCountry}}Tharoor has, however, maintained that the remark was borrowed from an article published in 2012, when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. In his petition, Tharoor contended that Babbar’s complaint was not legally maintainable as he is not an “aggrieved person” under the law, especially since the person directly referred to in the statement had not taken any legal action. He also relied on the exception under the law on defamation that exempts any comment made in good faith.
{{/usCountry}}Tharoor was stated to have merely made a reference to an article published in the Caravan magazine six years prior to making the statement.
Despite these arguments, however, the Delhi high court on August 29, 2024 refused to quash the defamation proceedings against him, asking him to appear before the trial court on September 10. The high court had said, prima facie, imputations like “scorpion on Shivling” against the prime minister were “despicable and deplorable”. The high court also said there was sufficient material before the judicial magistrate for summoning Tharoor under Section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC.
Tharoor challenged the order in the top court in September 2024. In the same month, the apex court stayed the trial in the criminal defamation proceedings and had sought a response from Babbar and the Delhi government. However, the hearing could not proceed as Tharoor’s counsel sought an adjournment. The court further extended the stay on the trial till the next date.