Supreme Court Urges Closure of Defamation Case Against Shashi Tharoor Over "Scorpion on Shivling" Remark

The Supreme Court questioned the need for a defamation case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for his 2018 “scorpion on a Shivling” remark about PM Modi.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh asked BJP leader Rajiv Babbar, who filed the complaint, “Why be so touchy?” and hinted at closing the case.

Tharoor explained that he was quoting a 2012 remark published in The Caravan, attributing it to an unnamed RSS member, not making an original statement. 

The Court observed that public figures, administrators, politicians, and judges must have thick skin. It adjourned the matter for September, keeping the interim stay in place. 

[Shashi Tharoor v State of NCT of Delhi and anr]