The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed criminal defamation proceedings against senior Congress leader and parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor, who had appealed against a Delhi court order requiring his appearance in a defamation case over his 2018 remark allegedly comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a scorpion.
The Lok Sabha MP was granted the legal respite on the day he was scheduled to appear before the trial court.
A bench of justices Hrishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan also issued a notice to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Babbar, who complained against Tharoor’s remarks at the Bangalore Literature Festival, where he allegedly made the “scorpion on Shivling” remarks targeting the PM.
The bench also sought a response from the Delhi Police and fixed the matter for hearing next after 4 weeks.
Also Read: Delhi HC refuses to quash defamation case against Tharoor over remarks against PM
During the brief hearing, advocate Muhammad Ali Khan, representing Tharoor, argued that Babbar, or any other party member, could not be brought within the ambit of an “aggrieved person” under the defamation law when the person against whom the statement was issued has not taken any action.
Khan added that Tharoor’s statement was protected under the immunity clause of the defamation law, which laid down that any comment made in good faith was not criminal. According to the lawyer, Tharoor’s statement was borrowed from an article published on Modi in 2012 when the latter was the chief minister of Gujarat.
{{/usCountry}}Khan added that Tharoor’s statement was protected under the immunity clause of the defamation law, which laid down that any comment made in good faith was not criminal. According to the lawyer, Tharoor’s statement was borrowed from an article published on Modi in 2012 when the latter was the chief minister of Gujarat.
{{/usCountry}}Tharoor had previously sought to get the case quashed, but the Delhi high court refused to do so on August 29, prompting him to appeal to the Supreme Court. The high court held that the “imputations against a sitting Prime Minister are despicable and deplorable” and have a bearing on the image of the BJP, its members and its functionaries.
The high court order stated: “The comment exemplifies that Shri Narendra Modi is unacceptable with many in the RSS establishment and compares the expression of their frustration, as dealing with a leader with the characteristics of a scorpion possessing a venomous instinct. The comments apparently not only defame Shri Narendra Modi, but the party represented by him i.e. BJP, including RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and the members of the party for having accepted the leadership.”
In his defence, Tharoor had argued that the imputation was in good faith and a fair reproduction of an earlier published article. It was also contended by Tharoor’s legal team that the summoning order was bad in law because the newspaper reports had not been proved by summoning the relevant witness at pre-summoning stage.
The high court, however, held that while there was nothing wrong with the summoning order, Tharoor will get opportunity during the trial proceedings to raise all contentions available to him in law.
The high court, which had in October 2020 stayed the criminal proceedings against the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala in the defamation complaint, vacated the interim order and directed him to appear before the trial court on September 10.
On Babbar’s complaint filed in 2018, the Congress leader was first summoned by the trial court in April 2019.
In his complaint, Babbar alleged that Tharoor’s statement was an intolerable abuse and absolute vilification of the faith of millions of devotees of Lord Shiva, and thus, hurt his religious sentiments. Babbar also complained against the alleged disparaging remarks against the PM of India.