Delhi High Court seeks Shashi Tharoor reply to defamation case by BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor in the defamation case filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar accusing him of making false and defamatory remarks during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections..Chandrasekhar has moved the High Court with a revision petition after a Delhi court in February this year dismissed his defamation suit against Tharoor. Justice Ravinder Dudeja issued notice to Tharoor seeking his response on the revision petition filed by Chandrashekhar. The Court has also called for the trial court's records. The next date of hearing is September 16..Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani appeared for Chandrasekhar. He read out the excerpts of Tharoor's interviews given to 24News and Asianet News and claimed that defamatory remarks were made against his client.Jethmalani also referred to a warning issued by the Election Commission of India to Tharoor for violating the Model Code of Conduct during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by making bribery allegations against Chandrashekhar to the media. .In the defamation complaint, Chandrasekhar accused Shashi Tharoor of making false and defamatory statements on various public fora in April 2024 during election campaigns, thereby causing severe damage to his professional and personal reputation. Chandrasekhar and Tharoor were rival candidates for the elections, both contesting elections from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency. Tharoor eventually emerged as the winner. Amid the heated contest, Chandrasekhar reportedly sent Tharoor a legal notice for defamation in April, after Tharoor allegedly said that there were talks of key influential figures, including parish priests, being bribed for votes. Chandrasekhar then approached the High Court, seeking an order to restrain Tharoor from making further defamatory remarks, and demanding a public apology from the Congress leader as well as ₹10 crore in damages for tarnishing his reputation. "These actions resulted in significant damage to the (Chandrasekhar's) reputation and ultimately led to his defeat by a narrow margin of 16,077 votes," the plea says..The trial court had said there was no such imputation in the media interview given by Tharoor."The proposed accused can not been seen to impute that Dr. Rajeev Chandrashekhar has bribed any voter. The proposed accused has not even mentioned that his opposition candidate had bribed the voters," the Court found.The court also questioned the conduct of Malayalam news channel 24News. In particular, the court questioned the conduct of the news anchor who spoke in a morning show about Tharoor's alleged statement..Delhi court calls out 24News for sensationalism in Rajeev Chandrashekhar vs Shashi Tharoor.Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.