'Scorpion On Shivling' A Metaphor, Why Should Somebody Object?' : Supreme Court Stays Defamation Case Against Tharoor For Remark On Modi

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (September 10) stayed the proceedings in the criminal defamation complaint against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over a "scorpion sitting on a Shivling" remark made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan was hearing Tharoor's challenge to a Delhi High Court order of August 29, whereby his plea for quashing the defamation case was rejected.

Advocate Mohammed Ali Khan, appearing for Tharoor, submitted that he merely quoted from an article published by The Caravan magazine in 2012, which contained an alleged remark by an unnamed RSS leader comparing Narendra Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a Shivling". While speaking at the Bangalore Literature Festival in 2018, Tharoor quoted this expression and termed it an "extraordinarily striking metaphor", the counsel said.

Further, it was submitted that the person quoted in The Caravan magazine article repeated the same statement in a video on a news channel later. When the remark was not defamatory in 2012, how could it suddenly become defamatory when Tharoor repeated it in 2018, the counsel contended.

It was also pointed out that the criminal defamation complaint (filed by BJP leader Rajeev Babbar) did not make either the magazine or the person who made the original quote a party/accused.

At this point, Justice Roy observed that the remark was essentially a metaphor which could also refer to the invincibility of the person who was spoken about.

"It is a metaphor. Eventually, it is a metaphor. The metaphor would refer to the invincibility of the person who is spoken about. Can the metaphor not be understood as pointing out to the invincibility of the person?" the judge asked.

When the counsel replied that it can be understood as "can't live with, can't live without", Justice Roy said that a metaphor is capable of being understood in many ways.

"I don't know why somebody has taken objection to this," Justice Roy wondered.

Thereafter, Tharoor's counsel questioned the High Court's judgment for expanding the scope of the words "person aggrieved" under Section 199 CrPC to hold the defamation complaint by a third person as maintainable. The members of a political party are not a determinable class which can be considered as aggrieved parties in relation to the comment, he said.

It was further argued that Tharoor's statement came within the exception of "good faith imputations" [Exceptions 8 and 9 to Section 499 IPC].

After hearing the submissions, the bench issued notice on the petition, returnable within four weeks and stayed the criminal proceedings in the meantime.

Background

Notably, Babbar alleged in the defamation complaint that his religious sentiments were hurt by the comments made by Tharoor. He described Tharoor's statement as "intolerable abuse" and "absolute vilification" of the faith of millions of people.

"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", said the complaint.

Be that as it may, Tharoor was granted bail in the case by the trial court. Subsequently, he moved the Delhi High Court for quashing of the defamation case. In 2020, the High Court stayed the trial, but recently, this order was vacated and Tharoor summoned to appear on September 10.

On August 29, the Delhi High Court refused to grant Tharoor relief, holding that his “scorpion on Shivling" remark not only defamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi but also BJP and RSS and members of the party for having accepted the leadership.

Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta further observed that the comment exemplified that PM Modi is unacceptable with many in the RSS establishment and compares the expression of their frustration, as dealing with a leader with the characteristics of a scorpion possessing a venomous instinct.

“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 said.

It was added that the imputation against the legislative Head of a political party and the sitting Prime Minister of India has an important bearing on the image of the party, functionaries and the members of the party concerned and does not augur well to the system as it also impacts the electoral process.

Case Title: SHASHI THAROOR Versus STATE OF N.C.T OF DELHI AND ANR., SLP(Crl) No. 12360/2024 

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