The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the criminal defamation proceedings against Shashi Tharoor in connection with his "scorpion sitting on Shivling" remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Shashi Tharoor vs State).The stay order was passed by a Single Judge Bench of Justice Suresh Kait in a plea moved by Tharoor to quash the summons and proceedings in the defamation case. .The Court also issued notice to the complainant, BJP's Rajiv Babbar. .The allegedly defamatory statement was made by Tharoor in November 2018 at the Bangalore Literature Festival where he allegedly said that "Mr Modi is a scorpion sitting on a Shivling.."..Calling the complaint by Babbar completely false and frivolous, counsel for Tharoor, Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Vikas Pahwa, argued that the issuance of summons was erroneous and contrary to the principles of criminal jurisprudence. .Tharoor has asserted that he was merely quoting another person, Gordhan Zadaphia and that statement has been in public domain for the last several years. .It is claimed that Tharoor did not make any false opinion or comments and rather only quoted a direct statement from an already piece of journalistic work..It is also argued that the Complainant, Babbar was not an aggrieved person in terms of Section 499 IPC and that the true origin and purport of the speech was cleverly concealed by him. .The matter would be heard next on December 9.
