Plea to withdraw case against Tharoor rejected

A local court on Wednesday declined to permit withdrawal of the complaint in the national anthem case filed against Union Minister Shashi Tharoor for the time being.

Petitioner Joy Kaitharath had last week submitted that he did not want to continue with the case.

The case was registered against Tharoor, Minister of State for HRD, on the basis of a private complaint by Kaitharath of Ernakulam in the Additional Chief Magistrate court stating that Tharoor had committed offences under Section 3 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1977, enacted to prohibit desecration or insult to the country’s national anthem.

The complainant had alleged that Tharoor on December 16, 2008, interrupted the national anthem at a function of the Federal Bank here and asked the audience to sing it by keeping the right hand on the left side of the chest like the Americans, instead of the attention posture.

Rejecting his plea, Ernakulam court Additional Chief Magistrate M Manoj orally held that based on the complaint, witnesses were examined and the case was set for framing of charges. So, withdrawal of the complaint will not be maintainable.

The case has been posted to April 10.

Meanwhile, one Jomon Puthenpurackal filed an impleading petition in the case in the Additional CJM court on Wednesday seeking not to permit withdrawal of the case against Tharoor.

“None of the reasons stated in the petition is legally tenable for withdrawing the complaint in which the court, after elaborate procedure, took cognisance and had also completed pre-charge trial,” he submitted.