New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that in 2018, a criminal defamation case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor should be closed about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, told by Live Law.A bench involved in Justice MM Sundresh and NK Singh heard the matter and commented on the case, called it “non-Micellius Day”.While Tharoor’s lawyer requested a stay, the complainant’s advocate (BJP leader Rajiv Babbar) sought a non-partial day hearing, according to the living law. Justice Sundarash commented: “What a non-partial day? Let us shut it off. Why do you want to touch all this? Let’s stop all this. In this way, administrators, political personality and judges form the same group, their skin is sufficiently thick. Don’t worry.”Senior advocate Pinky Anand replied that the matter would have to be heard anyway. On agreeing to this, the court listed the case for a hearing of another day. The interim order given last year will continue.On 10 September last year, Justices Rishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan suspended the proceedings of the Delhi High Court for the 29 August order in Tharoor, which dismissed their petition to reduce the defamation case.The defense of Tharoor states that he quoted a 2012 caravan magazine article, with an alleged comparison of an anonymous RSS leader of Modi. The statement was repeated at the 2018 Bangalore Literature Festival. The lawyer questioned how this comment could be defamable in 2018 when it was not in 2012, given that the complaint was neither named the magazine nor the original speaker.Babbar’s complaint alleged that Tharoor’s statement angered religious sentiments, described it as “unbearable abuse” and “absolute destruction” of millions of beliefs. The complainant said: “I am a devotee of Lord Shiva … However, the accused (Tharoor) completely disregarded the sentiments of crores of Shiva devotees, (and) made this statement, which damaged the feelings of all Lord Shiva devotees, both in India and the country both in India and the country”.Justice Anoop Kumar Meadhiratta of the Delhi High Court noticed that the comment suggested PM Modi’s reality within the establishment of the RSS. The court determined that the comment not only maligned Modi, but also BJP, RSS and party members who accepted their leadership, keeping the party’s image and its impact on the electoral process in mind.
