New Delhi:Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing on his plea challenging a Delhi High Court verdict.
The high court had declined to quash the defamation proceedings against him on a complaint over his alleged "scorpion on Shivling" remarks targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A counsel mentioned the matter before a bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The CJI held the court till 6 pm as against the usual 4 pm. The lawyer, representing Tharoor, urged the bench to hear the matter on Tuesday or else, the Congress leader will have to appear in a Delhi court in connection with the private defamation complaint the same day.
The bench asked the lawyer to circulate an email regarding his matter and it will be examined. On August 29, the high court had refused to quash the defamation proceedings against Tharoor.
The high court had said that prima facie, imputations like "scorpion on Shivling" against the prime minister are "despicable and deplorable". The complaint against Tharoor was filed by Delhi BJP vice-president Rajiv Babbar.
Tharoor had sought to set aside the trial court's April 27, 2019 order summoning him as an accused in the criminal defamation complaint filed by Babbar as well as the November 2, 2018 complaint.
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