'Never named party, Chandrasekhar': Court junks defamation case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI): A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed a criminal complaint filed by BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor accusing him of defamation.
Additional chief judicial magistrate Paras Dalal refused to summon Tharoor saying "not once did Tharoor in any of the three interviews/news bytes published" made a reference to the BJP, NDA or Chandrashekhar.
"The proposed accused (Tharoor) cannot been seen to impute that Chandrashekhar has bribed any voter. The proposed accused has not even mentioned that his opposition candidate had bribed the voters... Proposed accused in further interviews/news byte even clarifies that chasing such allegations would be futile as none would come forward to accept that they received any money or were promised as such. Proposed accused still in any of the interviews never named the complainant or his party to be bribing for votes," said the verdict.
Chandrasekhar alleged Tharoor defamed him by making false and derogatory statements on national television as he claimed the BJP leader bribed voters in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency during 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The court, however, said the complainant failed to show any imputation made against him by the Congress leader in any of the three interviews.
The court said if each and every speech and expression was viewed as defamation, then the freedom of speech and expression would be reduced to "nought".
"This court.. finds that there is no imputation which violates the requirement of law so as to initiate trial for criminal defamation against the proposed accused," the order said.
The judge went on, "There is no prima facie evidence that the proposed accused made any imputation against the complainant. The evidence produced shows that proposed accused never made or intended to make an imputation directly upon the complainant."
In a related development, the Delhi High Court on February 3 summoned Tharoor in a related civil defamation suit where Chandrasekhar sought Rs 10 crore in damages for loss of reputation. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav posted the matter on April 28.
The criminal defamation complaint carries a maximum of a two-year jail term upon conviction.
The judge said the only imputation Tharoor made was when he reportedly said, "It's natural for the BJP to spend two to three times more than us."
But the court said the statement was made in context of the whole country.
"The fact that the news channel questioned the proposed accused shows that it was already the talk of the town and cities. The news channel kept seeking answers from the proposed, who maintained that even he had heard about the same and even clarified that there was no evidence," said the judge.
The two interviews when read in totality showed in all fairness Tharoor brushed the news as without proof and it seemed he left it to the people of the constituency to make fair judgment of talks, noted the judgment.
Tharoor, said the court, imputing the BJP was spending two to three times more than them was neither attributable to the complainant nor was it defamatory.
"It is noteworthy to see how interviews, words, etc., can be manipulated to mean differently with some outside context or interpretation attributed to such words... a bit and piece of any answer when presented to sensationalise with some random context by third person can present a complete different picture... A news channel can easily fall to scheme of sentimentalisation," the court said.
In today's period with diminishing attention span, the news presented for consumption requires sensationalising and eye catching headlines, it added.
Tharoor, said Chandrasekhar, made the allegations 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.
The interviews were published by various news channels and on social media platforms at the behest of the proposed accused and resulted in the loss of reputation of the complainant in the society, which ultimately resulted in the complainant losing the Lok Sabha Elections, 2024, alleged his complaint.
The court on September 21, 2024 took cognisance of the complaint.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
