'Don't be touchy, let's close this': Supreme Court on defamation case against Tharoor over 'scorpion' remark about Modi

The defamation case was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajeev Babbar against the remark, which was passed in 2018.

While Tharoor's advocate requested for an adjournment of the case, Babbar's counsel requested the court to list it on a "non-miscellaneous day".

In response, a top court bench of Justices MM Sundresh and NK Singh said as quoted by Live Law, "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 court has agreed to hear the case on some other day.

On August 29 last year, Tharoor had pleaded before the Delhi High Court to quash the case against him. The High Court had rejected the plea.

Challenging the High Court order, the Congress MP had moved the Supreme Court that had stayed the proceedings last year.

The apex court on Friday said the interim order which was granted last year will continue till the next hearing.

Tharoor had argued in the High Court that he had quoted the remark from an article which was published by the Caravan Magazine in 2012.

Tharoor's counsel had claimed the magazine had carried an unnamed leader of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)'s quotation where the person had compared Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a Shivling".

The Congress leader pointed out that he had merely repeated the remark which was reportedly also carried out in a video or a news channel later.

It was pointed out that the defamation case was not made against the person who had originally passed the remark.