New Delhi: A city court on Tuesday dismissed a criminal complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar against Congress Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor accusing the Congress leader of defamation.
Additional chief judicial magistrate Paras Dalal refused to summon Tharoor on the criminal complaint filed by Chandrashekhar, saying prima facie “no ingredients of defamation” was made in the complaint.
Chandrashekhar alleged Tharoor defamed him
Chandrashekhar alleged that Tharoor defamed him by making false and derogatory imputations on national television by saying that he was bribing voters in the Thiruvananthapuram parliamentary constituency.
The BJP leader further alleged that the Congress MP made those false statements against him knowing fully well that those statements were false and those statements were made with the intent to damage his reputation to affect the result of the last Lok Sabha elections.
What did Chandrashekhar say?
Chandrashekhar further stated in his complaint before the court that the interview(s) was/were published by various news channels and social media platforms at the behest of Tharoor and it resulted in loss of his reputation in society and ultimately resulted in him losing the last year’s general elections.
“The interview(s) was/were published by various news channels as well as on social media platforms at the behest of the proposed accused and resulted in loss of reputation of the complainant in the society, which ultimately resulted in the complainant losing the Lok Sabha Elections, 2024,” Chandrashekhar said.
Delhi court took cognisance of Chandrashekhar’s complaint in September last year
A Delhi court had on September 21 last year took cognisance of the complaint made by Chandrashekhar.
High Court on Monday summoned Tharoor on Chandrashekhar’s defamation suit
Chandrashekhar has also moved the Delhi High Court, which on Monday summoned Tharoor in a defamation suit filed by Chandrasekhar seeking Rs 10 crore in damages for loss of reputation.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav on Monday directed the plaint to be registered as a suit and posted the matter for April 28.
“Let the plaint be registered as a suit. Issue summons to the defendant (Tharoor). List before the joint registrar on April 28,” the High Court said while hearing Chandrashekhar’s defamation suit.
