New Delhi

On Thursday, the Delhi HC decided not to dismiss the defamation case against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. The case stems from remarks Tharoor made in 2018 at the Bangalore Literature Festival, where he allegedly compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a scorpion sitting on a Shivling.

The court also lifted a previous stay that had paused the case. Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta noted there were no grounds to cancel the proceedings at this point and instructed all parties to appear in the trial court on September 10.

In 2020, the Delhi HC had temporarily halted the case while Tharoor challenged a trial court’s decision to summon him. The complaint, filed by Delhi BJP leader Rajeev Babbar, accused Tharoor of making offensive comments that Babbar claimed hurt his religious feelings and defamed BJP supporters.

Tharoor had sought to dismiss the complaint, which is based on Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, concerning defamation.