Shashi Tharoor VS State

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

ANOOP KUMAR MENDIRATTA
Shashi Tharoor – Appellant
Versus
State – Respondent

Counsel for the Parties:
For the Petitioner:Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Muhammad Ali Khan, Mr. Abhik Chimni, Mr. Omar Hoda, Ms. Eesha Bakshi, Mr. Uday Bhatia, Mr. Arjun Sharma and Mr. Kamran Khan, Advocates
For the State/Respondent No.1:Ms. Nandita Rao, ASC (Crl) with Mr. Amit Peshwani, Advocate
For the Respondent No.2:Ms. Pinky Anand, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Mr. Neeraj, Ms. Saudamini Sharma, Mr. Samrath Pasricha and Ms. Ojasvi, Advocates

JUDGMENT

Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, J.—A petition under Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.) has been preferred on behalf of the petitioner/Dr. Shashi Tharoor, a Member of Parliament and leader of Indian National Congress, assailing order dated 27.04.2019 passed by learned ACMM-I, Rouse Avenue Courts, New Delhi whereby the petitioner has been summoned for commission of offence under Section 500 Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC).

2. In brief, on 28.10.2018, petitioner while addressing the audience at Bangalore Literature Festival made a defamatory imputation in following terms:—

“... and this personality cult has not sat very well with many in the RSS establishment. There’s an extraordinarily striking metaphor expressed by an unnamed RSS source to journalist Vinod Jose of The Caravan which I quote here, in which they express their frustration with their inability to curb Mr. Modi, And the man says, “Mr. Modi”, he says is like a “scorpion sitting on a Shivling; you cannot remove him with your hand, and you cannot hit it with a chappal either.” Petitioner further stated : “And if you think about it, that’s a very profound understanding of the relationship. Because if y