The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the trial court’s proceedings in a criminal defamation case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for his 2018 remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bar and Bench reported.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan observed that Tharoor’s comments were not original and were originally made by another person in a 2012 article published in The Caravan magazine.
The court also said that it did not understand why there was an objection to Tharoor’s remark as the comment appeared to be more metaphorical, seemingly alluding to Modi’s perceived electoral invincibility.
“In 2012, it was not defamatory,” Bar and Bench quoted the bench as saying. “Eventually it is a metaphor. I have tried to understand. It refers to the invincibility of the person referred to [Modi].”
The court issued a notice to the complainant, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajiv Babbar, and the Delhi government, and stayed all proceedings related to the complaint against Tharoor.
The Supreme Court was hearing an appeal filed by the senior Congress leader against a Delhi High Court order that refused to quash the case against him.
Subsequently, the trial court hearing the defamation complaint had issued summons requiring Tharoor’s appearance in the matter.
In 2018, while speaking at the Bangalore Literature Festival, Tharoor quoted a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionary to compare the prime minister with a scorpion.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the parent organisation of the ruling BJP.
Following this, Babbar filed a complaint against Tharoor. He claimed that the Congress MP had hurt the sentiments of the devotees of the Hindu deity Shiva.
A complaint was registered under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to defamation (499) and punishment for such complaints (500).
In 2019, Tharoor attributed the quote to BJP leader Gordhan Zadaphia and said that the statement had been in the public domain for several years.
“Wonder if BJP would like to ask a judge to summon their own UP-in-charge, Gordhan Zadaphia, for the remark I am now being prosecuted for quoting?” Tharoor had said on social media. “Absurd to be pursued by the BJP for quoting words that have been in the public domain for over 7yrs (sic), without any previous legal action.”
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