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Babbar filed a complaint following Tharoor's assertion that an unnamed RSS leader had compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “a scorpion sitting on a Shivling,” which Tharoor had described as an “extraordinarily striking metaphor”.
On Thursday, the Delhi High Court denied the petition filed by Congress Leader Shashi Tharoor seeking to quash the summons issued by the Trial Court in a defamation suit initiated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Babbar.
The bench, led by Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, rejected Tharoor’s petition and instructed the parties to appear before the Trial Court on September 10, 2024. The court determined that there were insufficient grounds at this stage to quash the proceedings, concluding that it would be in the interest of justice to allow the trial court to proceed with the case.
Rajiv Babbar, the complainant, expressed profound hurt as a devotee of Lord Shiva, asserting that Tharoor’s statement disregarded the sentiments of millions of Shiva devotees both in India and abroad. Babbar’s complaint accused Tharoor of deliberately committing a malicious act intended to outrage the religious feelings of Lord Shiva’s followers, describing Tharoor's statement as an “intolerable abuse” and “absolute vilification” of the faith of millions.
Background:
The Delhi High Court had earlier granted Tharoor a final chance to present his submissions in a plea challenging the defamation proceedings brought against him by a BJP leader over his alleged “scorpion on Shivling” remark concerning PM.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma had postponed the matter until March 15, 2024, following a request from Tharoor’s counsel and directed the lawyer to submit written arguments. The Court had emphasized that if the case was not argued at the next hearing, it would be decided based on the written submissions.
On October 16, 2020, the High Court stayed the criminal proceedings against Tharoor and sought a response from complainant Rajiv Babbar regarding Tharoor’s plea challenging the summons issued by the Trial Court.
Tharoor had sought to overturn the Trial Court’s April 27, 2019, order summoning him as the accused in the criminal defamation case and requested the quashing of the November 2, 2018, complaint. He argued that the Trial Court’s order was legally erroneous and contrary to established criminal jurisprudence, contending that Babbar’s complaint was “completely false and frivolous”.
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