Delhi HC Refuses To Quash Defamation Case Against Shashi Tharoor Over Remarks Against PM Modi

Delhi High Court refuses to quash defamation case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over his alleged "scorpion on Shivling" remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Tharoor claimed that an unnamed RSS leader had compared PM Narendra Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a Shivling".

Source : PTI Images

Delhi High Court refuses to quash defamation case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over his alleged "scorpion on Shivling" remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Tharoor sparked controversy he compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a scorpion sitting on a Shivling while speaking at the Bengaluru Literary Festival.

Tharoor claimed that an unnamed RSS leader had compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a Shivling".

"Modi is like a scorpion sitting on a Shivling. You cannot remove him with your hand and you cannot hit it with a 'chappal' (slipper) either," Tharoor said while recalling what an RSS member had told a journalist in 2012.

He said that there is an extraordinarily striking metaphor expressed by an unnamed RSS source to journalist Vinod Jose of 'The Caravan', who expressed their frustration with their inability to curb Modi. Tharoor also shared a tweet saying that the quote had been in public domain since 2012 and he was merely quoting another person, Gordhan Zadaphia.

In view of the unseemly demonisation of an out of context remark today involving a scorpion metaphor, my book #TheParadoxicalPrimeMinister cites & footnotes this article — please see the last paragraph of this article. https://t.co/wgrBrjiM7T

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 28, 2018

A bench of Justice Anup Kumar Mendiratta passed the order rejecting Tharoor's plea to quash the case.

The high court today vacated its interim order staying the proceedings and ordered the parties to appear before the trial court on September 10. The trial court issued summons to Tharoor after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Babbar filed the defamation case against Tharoor.

Tharoor contended in court that he did not make any false comments and only quoted a direct statement from an already piece of journalistic work.