SC stays proceedings against Tharoor

New Delhi: In a relief for Shashi Tharoor, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed proceedings before a trial court in a defamation case lodged against the Congress MP for his alleged “scorpion on Shivling” remarks targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice R Mahadevan issued notice to the Delhi Police and BJP leader Rajiv Babbar who is the complainant in the case.

Tharoor was supposed to appear before a trial court here on Tuesday in pursuance to a Delhi high court order.

“Issue notice returnable in four weeks. In the meantime, further proceedings in pursuance to the impugned judgement are stayed,” the bench said.

Tharoor moved the top court against the Delhi High Court order which refused to quash defamation proceedings against him on August 29.

During the hearing, advocate Mohammed Ali Khan, appearing for Tharoor, submitted that the complainant cannot be said to be an aggrieved party in the case and members of political party also cannot be said to be an aggrieved party. Khan added 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.

He stated the High Court has expanded the definition of “person aggrieved” in a defamation case to unacceptable limits. The lawyer said Tharoor made a reference to an article in the Caravan magazine six years before the statement was made.