'Scorpion on shivling' remark: Delhi HC refuses to quash defamation case against Tharoor

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to quash the defamation proceedings against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on a complaint over his alleged "scorpion on shivling" remark targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta dismissed Tharoor's plea challenging the defamation proceedings. The high court, which had on October 16, 2020, stayed the criminal proceedings against Tharoor in the defamation complaint, vacated the interim order and directed the parties to appear before the trial court on September 10.

The judge said no grounds existed for quashing the proceedings while pronouncing the order. Tharoor sought to set aside the trial court's April 27, 2019, order summoning him as an accused in the criminal defamation complaint filed by BJP leader Rajiv Babbar. He also sought to quash the complaint of November 2, 2018.

Babbar filed the criminal complaint against Tharoor in the trial court, claiming that the Congress leader's statement hurt his religious sentiments. In October 2018, Tharoor claimed that an unnamed RSS leader had compared Prime Minister Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a shivling." He termed it an "extraordinarily striking metaphor." The trial court granted Tharoor bail in the case in June 2019.

The complainant had said, "I am a devotee of Lord Shiva... However, the accused (Tharoor) completely disregarded the sentiments of crores of Shiva devotees, (and) made the statement which hurt the sentiments of all Lord Shiva devotees, both in India and outside the country." The complaint was filed under sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).