HC issues notice to Tharoor on Chandrasekhar’s defamation plea

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on a petition filed by BJP leader and former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is contesting the dismissal of his defamation complaint by a lower court.

Justice Ravinder Dudeja sought Tharoor’s response and fixed the next hearing for September 16, while also directing that records from the trial court be submitted in digital format for review.

The plea challenges a February 4 order by an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, who had declined to issue summons to Tharoor on the grounds that there was no prima facie evidence that his remarks constituted criminal defamation.

Chandrasekhar, who lost the recent Lok Sabha elections from Thiruvananthapuram, had filed the complaint last year after Tharoor allegedly accused him in a televised Malayalam news channel interview of attempting to bribe voters in the constituency.

In his petition before the High Court, Chandrasekhar contended that the remarks were not only false and malicious but also widely disseminated across television channels and social media platforms, causing serious damage to his public image and electoral prospects.

The former minister maintained that the statements were made with deliberate intent to malign him and influence the electoral outcome in Tharoor’s favour.

This criminal defamation petition runs parallel to an earlier civil suit filed by Chandrasekhar in the Delhi High Court in which summons have already been issued to Tharoor. In that civil case, Chandrasekhar has sought a permanent injunction restraining Tharoor from making further allegedly defamatory remarks, in addition to monetary damages.