The Supreme Court has stayed the criminal defamation proceedings against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over his “scorpion sitting on a Shivling” remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Tuesday, a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan reviewed Tharoor’s challenge against a Delhi High Court order from August 29, which had refused to quash the defamation case. Tharoor’s lawyer, Mohammed Ali Khan, argued that Tharoor was merely quoting from a 2012 Caravan Magazine article, which had cited an unnamed RSS leader’s alleged comparison of PM Modi to “a scorpion sitting on a Shivling”, as reported by LiveLaw.
At the Bangalore Literature Festival in 2018, Tharoor used this quote, describing it as an “extraordinarily striking metaphor.” Khan contended that since the remark was not deemed defamatory in 2012, it should not be considered defamatory when Tharoor repeated it in 2018. He also pointed out that the defamation complaint, filed by BJP leader Rajeev Babbar, did not name the magazine or the original speaker as accused.
Justice Roy remarked that the remark was essentially a metaphor that could suggest the invincibility of the person being referred to.
“It is a metaphor. Eventually, it is a metaphor. The metaphor would refer to the invincibility of the person who is spoken about. Can’t the metaphor not be understood as pointing out to the invincibility of the person?” Justice Roy asked.
Khan responded that it could be interpreted as “can’t live with, can’t live without,” and Justice Roy noted that metaphors can be understood in various ways. “I don’t know why somebody has taken objection to this,” Justice Roy said.
The bench then issued a notice on Tharoor’s petition, with a return date set for four weeks and stayed the proceedings in the interim.
Babbar had claimed in his defamation complaint that Tharoor’s comments hurt his religious sentiments, describing them as “intolerable abuse” and “absolute vilification” of the faith of millions.
“I am a devotee of Lord Shiva… However, the accused (Tharoor) completely disregarded the sentiments of crores of Shiva devotees, (and) made the statement which hurt the sentiments of all Lord Shiva devotees, both in India and outside the country,” stated the complaint.
After Tharoor was granted bail by the trial court, he sought to quash the defamation case in the Delhi High Court. Although the High Court stayed the trial in 2020, this order was recently overturned, requiring Tharoor to appear on September 10.
On August 29, the Delhi High Court denied Tharoor’s request for relief, ruling that his “scorpion on Shivling” remark defamed not only Prime Minister Modi but also the BJP, RSS, and their members.
Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta noted that the comment implied PM Modi’s unacceptability to many within the RSS, suggesting frustration with a leader possessing venomous characteristics.
“The comments apparently not only defame Shri Narendra Modi but the party represented by him i.e. BJP, including RSS and the members of the party for having accepted the leadership,” the High Court stated.
