Delhi Court Rejects BJP Leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar's Criminal Defamation Complaint Against Congress's Shashi Tharoor

A Delhi Court on Tuesday (February 4) dismissed a criminal complaint filed by former Union Minister and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over allegations of defamation.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal refused to summon Tharoor in the case and said that prima facie, no ingredients of defamation was made out.

The Court had taken cognizance of Chandrasekhar's complaint in September last year.

BJP leader Chandrasekhar had filed the defamation case alleging that Tharoor defamed him by making false statements on a national television wherein he said that the former was bribing voters in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency during the elections.

As per Chandrasekhar, the statements were made by Tharoor on a Malayalam news channel called “24 News.”

In a related development, the Delhi High Court yesterday issued summons to Tharoor in a defamation suit filed by Chandrasekhar. In the suit, the BJP leader has sought permanent injunction and damages against Tharoor on account of his allegedly defamatory statements in the interview.

Chandrasekhar's complaint stated that Tharoor's interview was published by various news channels as well as on social media platforms at the behest of the latter which resulted in loss of reputation of the former in the society. He further alleged that the situated ultimately resulted in him losing the Lok Sabha polls, 2024.