'Why be so touchy': Supreme Court to complainant on Shashi Tharoor's 'scorpion' remarks against PM Modi

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday favoured closing a defamation case against Congress M P Shashi Tharoor for his alleged 2018 statement comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a scorpion, asking an aggrieved BJP leader why he wanted to be touchy about all this, as administrators, political personalities and judges had sufficiently thicker skin.

"Let us close this. Why do you want to be touchy about all this," a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh asked the counsel for complainant Rajiv Babbar, who wanted the case to be listed on non miscellaneous date for a detailed hearing.

At the outset, a counsel for Tharoor sought for an adjournment.

Senior advocate Pinky Anand, appearing for Babbar said the case should be listed on non miscellaneous date.

"What non-miscellaneous day? Let us close this. Why do you want to be touchy about all this? Let us close all this. That way, administrators, political personalities and judges form the same group, they have sufficiently thicker skin. Don't worry," the bench said.

The counsel insisted the matter has to be heard. The court, agreeing to the submission, posted it for consideration for some other day.

The court also extended its interim stay granted on September 10, 2024 to continue till the next date of hearing.

Tharoor challenged the Delhi High Court's August 09, 2024 judgment that rejected his request to dismiss the criminal defamation case.

The senior Congress leader had allegedly made the statement at the Bangalore Literature Festival, that "Mr Modi is a scorpion sitting on a Shivling."

He contended that he was merely echoing a quote from Gordhan Zadaphia, which has been publicly available for several years.

He claimed the comments were not his own opinions but a repetition of an existing statement.

So, the complainant lacked standing under Section 499 (Defamation) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) to file the case, he contended.