September 10th 2024.
The highest court in India, the Supreme Court, has put a halt to the legal proceedings against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor has been facing a defamation case for his alleged comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he referred to him as a "scorpion on Shivling". Justices Hrishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan have issued a notice to the Delhi government and the complainant in the case, with a returnable date of four weeks.
Tharoor has taken the matter to the top court, challenging the Delhi High Court's decision to not dismiss the defamation case against him on August 29. The Congress leader has also asked for the trial court's order summoning him as an accused in the criminal complaint filed by Rajiv Babbar, dated April 27, 2019, and the complaint filed on November 2, 2018, to be set aside. Babbar had filed the complaint against Tharoor, claiming that his religious sentiments were hurt by Tharoor's statement.
In October 2018, Tharoor had made a statement where he mentioned that an unnamed leader from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had compared Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a Shivling". He had further described it as an "extraordinarily striking metaphor". This statement led to the filing of a criminal complaint against Tharoor in the trial court.
The Supreme Court's decision to stay the proceedings gives Tharoor some relief in the ongoing case against him. The notice issued to the Delhi government and the complainant shows that the court is taking the matter seriously and will be looking into it in detail. Tharoor will now have to wait for the next four weeks to see how the case unfolds.
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