New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stayed the defamation proceedings against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor related to his remarks comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a “scorpion on a Shivling.”
A bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and R. Mahadevan issued notice to both the Delhi government and the complainant, Rajiv Babbar, in the case. The notice is returnable in four weeks.
Tharoor’s petition challenges the Delhi High Court’s August 29 decision, which had denied his request to quash the defamation proceedings. The Congress leader is contesting the trial court’s April 27, 2019 order summoning him as an accused, as well as a complaint filed on November 2, 2018, by Babbar.
The defamation case was initiated after Tharoor made a statement in October 2018, where he claimed that an unnamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader had metaphorically compared Modi to “a scorpion sitting on a Shivling.” Babbar alleged that Tharoor’s remarks were offensive to his religious sentiments.