The Supreme Court docket is scheduled to listen to on Monday a plea of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor towards a Delhi Excessive Court docket verdict that refused to quash defamation proceedings towards him for his alleged “scorpion on Shivling” comment focusing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Whereas listening to Tharoor’s plea on September 10, the apex court docket had stayed the proceedings earlier than a trial court docket within the defamation case filed towards the Congress MP.
The highest court docket had additionally issued discover to the Delhi Police and BJP chief Rajiv Babbar, who’s the complainant within the case, searching for their responses on the plea.
As per the trigger listing of October 14 uploaded on the apex court docket web site, a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti is slated to listen to Tharoor’s plea.
The Congress MP has moved the highest court docket towards the excessive court docket’s August 29 order which refused to quash the defamation proceedings towards him.
Through the listening to on September 10, Tharoor’s counsel informed the apex court docket that the complainant can’t be stated to be an aggrieved get together within the case and members of the political get together additionally can’t be stated to be an aggrieved get together.
His counsel argued that Tharoor’s remark was protected beneath the immunity clause of the defamation legislation, which stipulates that any assertion made in good religion was not felony.
The lawyer stated Tharoor made a reference to an article printed within the Caravan journal six years earlier than the assertion was made.
The highest court docket had expressed shock that in 2012, the assertion was not defamatory when the article was initially printed.
“Finally it’s a metaphor. I’ve tried to know. It refers back to the invincibility of the particular person referred to (Modi). I have no idea why someone has taken objection right here,” Justice Roy had remarked in the course of the listening to.
Whereas refusing to quash the proceedings towards Tharoor, the excessive court docket had stated prima facie, imputations like “scorpion on Shivling” towards the prime minister have been “despicable and deplorable”.
The excessive court docket, which on October 16, 2020, stayed the felony proceedings towards the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram within the defamation criticism, vacated the interim order and directed the events to look earlier than the trial court docket on September 10.
It had stated that prima facie, the comment defamed the prime minister, the BJP in addition to its office-bearers and members.
Dismissing Tharoor’s petition searching for quashing of the defamation proceedings pending earlier than the trial court docket, the excessive court docket had stated there was ample materials earlier than the judicial Justice of the Peace for summoning him beneath part 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The Congress chief had sought setting apart the trial court docket’s April 27, 2019 order summoning him as an accused within the felony defamation criticism filed by Rajiv Babbar as additionally the November 2, 2018 criticism.
The felony criticism was filed towards Tharoor within the trial court docket by Babbar, who claimed that his spiritual sentiments have been damage by the Congress chief’s assertion.
In October 2018, Tharoor had claimed that an unnamed RSS chief had in contrast Modi to “a scorpion sitting on a Shivling”. The Congress chief had stated it was an “terribly hanging metaphor”.
