'Scorpion' remark against PM: SC extends stay on defamation proceedings against Tharoor

PTI, NEW DELHI, OCT 14, 2024: The Supreme Court on Monday extended by four weeks the stay on the trial court proceedings against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a defamation case filed for his alleged "scorpion on Shivling" remark targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti has granted four weeks' time to Delhi Police and the complainant to file their responses to Tharoor's plea. "The interim order (of stay on the defamation proceedings) to continue," directed the bench.

Additional Solicitor General Rajkumar Bhaskar Thakare, appearing for the Delhi Police, said that the primary question was whether or not the complainant, BJP leader Rajiv Babbar, was an aggrieved party. Thakare and Babbar's counsel subsequently sought time to file their responses to the petition.

On September 10, the apex court had stayed the defamation proceedings before a trial court in the case. Tharoor moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court's August 29 order, which refused to quash the defamation proceedings against him, asking him to appear before the trial court on September 10.

Tharoor's counsel previously argued that neither the complainant nor the members of the political party could be called an aggrieved party. The counsel further stated that Tharoor's comment was protected under the immunity clause of the defamation law, which stipulates that any statement made in good faith was not criminal. The Congress leader was stated to have merely made a reference to an article published in the Caravan magazine six years prior to the statement.

The apex court had expressed surprise that in 2012, when the article was originally published, the statement was not defamatory. "Eventually, it is a metaphor. I have tried to understand. It refers to the invincibility of the person referred to (Modi). I do not know why somebody has taken objection here," Justice Roy had remarked earlier.

While refusing to quash the proceedings against Tharoor, the High Court had said, prima facie, imputations like "scorpion on Shivling" against the prime minister were "despicable and deplorable." It had said that prima facie, the remark defamed the Prime Minister, the BJP, as well as its office-bearers and members. The High Court further said there was sufficient material before the judicial magistrate for summoning him under Section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC.

The complainant alleged that his religious sentiments were hurt by the Congress leader's remark.

In October 2018, Tharoor had reportedly claimed that an unnamed RSS leader had compared Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a Shivling." The Congress leader purportedly said it was an "extraordinarily striking metaphor.