NEW DELHI: On September 10, 2024, the Supreme Court halted further proceedings against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a criminal defamation case related to his “scorpion on Shivling” comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The court issued a notice on the petition filed by Tharoor, which will be reviewed within four weeks, while halting the ongoing legal proceedings. This decision follows Tharoor’s challenge to a Delhi High Court ruling from August 29, 2024, which had rejected his attempt to dismiss the defamation case.

The Delhi High Court had previously ruled that Tharoor's metaphorical comment defamed Modi and other BJP members. The defamation complaint was lodged by Rajeev Babbar on November 2, 2018, who argued that Tharoor's statement offended his religious sentiments and amounted to "intolerable abuse" and "vilification" of faiths.

In October 2018, during the Bangalore Literature Festival, Tharoor compared Modi to a "scorpion sitting on a Shivling," describing the metaphor as “extraordinarily striking.” Tharoor’s lawyer, Mohammed Ali Khan, argued that Tharoor was merely referencing an article from Caravan Magazine published in 2012. Khan questioned how the same remark could be deemed defamatory six years later if it wasn’t in 2012.

Justice Hrishikesh Roy, responding to Khan’s arguments, remarked that the metaphor might be interpreted in various ways, including as a commentary on a person’s perceived invincibility.

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