Delhi High Court Refuses to Quash Defamation Proceedings Against Shashi Tharoor

The Delhi High Court has denied Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s request to quash defamation proceedings initiated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Babbar. The case stems from remarks made by Tharoor, which Babbar alleges were offensive and hurt his religious sentiments. The court’s decision upholds a city court’s April 2019 order summoning Tharoor as an accused in the criminal complaint.

Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, while pronouncing the verdict, stated, “The petition is dismissed.” Tharoor had challenged the summoning order, arguing that it was legally flawed and based on a frivolous complaint. He had sought to have both the summoning order and Babbar’s complaint set aside.

The defamation case was filed after Tharoor’s comments, which Babbar claimed were derogatory towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tharoor’s petition before the high court asserted that the trial court’s order disregarded settled principles of criminal jurisprudence and was unsupported by evidence.

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