Court issues notice to Tharoor on defamation plea by Rajeev Chandrasekhar

In his complaint, Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed that Tharoor defamed him on national television by making "false" and "derogatory" statements

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to respond to a petition by BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Chandrasekhar is challenging a lower court’s decision to reject his defamation complaint against Shashi Tharoor.

 

Justice Ravinder Dudeja said the “matter required consideration” and sent a notice to Tharoor about Chandrasekhar’s plea.

 

Rajeev Chandrasekhar was a Rajya Sabha member representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He served as the Minister of State for Electronics & IT and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship from 2021 to 2024.

 

Chandrasekhar claimed that Tharoor defamed him on national television by making “false and derogatory” statements. He said Tharoor had accused him of “bribing” voters in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

 

 

According to Chandrasekhar, Tharoor made these comments “with the intent to lower his reputation and to impact the result of the last general elections while knowing fully well that the statements were false”. 

 

Chandrasekhar’s advocate told the High Court that the lower court had ignored important evidence when it said there was no defamation.

 

On February 4, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal refused to summon Tharoor, saying there were “no ingredients of defamation” in the complaint. The Delhi High Court will hear the matter again on September 16.

 

Shashi Tharoor is the Member of Parliament from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram constituency. He joined the Indian National Congress in 2009 after working nearly three decades with the United Nations. Later, he was also appointed as the Minister of External Affairs in the UPA government. He also served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.

 

[With inputs from PTI]