) A local court on Friday granted bail to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor over his allegation that an unnamed RSS leader had compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “a scorpion sitting on a Shivaling”.
A criminal defamation complaint was filed by Delhi BJP leader Rajeev Babbar against Mr Tharoor by submitting that his religious sentiments were hurt by the statement of Congress leader.
He submitted that Mr Tharoor had claimed in October last year that an unnamed RSS leader had compared Mr Modi to “a scorpion sitting on a Shivlinga”.
The complaint said, “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 in India and outside the country.
“The accused deliberately did this malicious act, intending to outrage the religious feelings of Lord Shiva devotees, by insulting their religious belief”.
The complainant filed the defamation under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code by describing the statement of Tharoor as an “intolerable abuse” and “absolute vilification” of the faith of millions of people.
“The man said Modi is like a scorpion sitting on a Shivaling. You cannot remove him with a hand and you cannot hit it with a chappal either,” Mr Tharoor had said.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, after hearing the defamation complaint, granted bail to Mr Tharoor, with the condition to furnish a personal bond of Rs 20,000.
