SC extends stay on defamation case against Shashi Tharoor for 2018 remark on PM Modi

The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended its stay on a trial court’s proceedings in a criminal defamation case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for a remark he made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, reported The Hindu.

The bench, headed by Justice Hrishikesh Roy, adjourned the case after the counsel for the complainant, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajiv Babbar, requested more time to file a counter-affidavit.

Tharoor’s counsel objected to the repeated adjournments. Roy noted that a stay order was already in place in the matter.

The Supreme Court had issued the stay order in September after Tharoor filed an appeal against a Delhi High Court order that refused to quash the case against him.

Tharoor made the remark in 2018 while speaking at the Bangalore Literature Festival, quoting a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionary in his description of the prime minister.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the parent organisation of the ruling BJP.

Babbar then filed a complaint against Tharoor claiming that the Congress MP’s remark had hurt the sentiments of the devotees of the Hindu deity Shiva. Tharoor was booked for defamation under sections of the Indian Penal Code.

In 2019, Tharoor attributed his remark to the BJP leader Gordhan Zadaphia and said that the statement had been in the public domain for several years.

“Wonder if BJP would like to ask a judge to summon their…

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