In a plea moved by Shashi Tharoor to quash the proceedings against him, the single judge bench of the Delhi High Court has decided to stay the proceedings instead. The proceedings were initiated by Bharatiya Janata Party member Rajiv Babbar.
The alleged defamatory statement “Mr. Modi is a scorpion sitting on a Shivling” was made at the Bangalore Literature Festival in November, 2018. In his defense he has stated that the comment was merely quoting Gordhan Zadaphia’s 2010 interview on NewsX channel.
Justice Suresh Khait hearing the defenses against criminal defamation under section 499 of the Indian Penal code decided to stay the proceedings until 9th December.
