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The defamation complaint has further asserted that in another interview with TV News Byte, Shashi Tharoor claimed that various individuals had approached him with allegations that Rajeev Chandrasekhar was bribing voters.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to Kerala Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in response to a defamation suit filed by former Union Minister and Kerala BJP President Rajiv Chandrasekhar. The court directed Tharoor to respond to the case.
Tharoor and Rajiv were opponents in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency. Rajiv alleged that Tharoor made false and defamatory accusations against him on national news channels during the election, claiming that voters were bought in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency. He further alleged that these false accusations were made with the intention of influencing the election results and damaging his personal reputation.
The trial court, which heard the case, dismissed Rajiv's petition on February 4, stating that there were no grounds for defamation charges. Consequently, Rajiv appealed to the High Court.
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In February 2025, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi declined to issue a summons to Tharoor in Chandrashekhar's defamation complaint.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) dismissed the complaint after reviewing pre-summoning evidence presented by the complainant's counsel, ruling that the case did not establish defamation against the proposed accused.
On September 21, 2024, the court took cognisance of the defamation complaint and directed the complainant to present pre-summoning evidence.
Chandrasekhar alleged that Shashi Tharoor, in an interview with a news channel during the Lok Sabha Elections, made serious allegations that Chandrasekhar was engaged in vote bribery. Chandrasekhar has claimed that these insinuations are defamatory and harmful to his reputation, leading him to file a criminal defamation case against Tharoor.
The defamation complaint has further asserted that in another interview with TV News Byte, Shashi Tharoor claimed that various individuals had approached him with allegations that Rajeev Chandrasekhar was bribing voters. Chandrasekhar has contended that these statements are defamatory and damaging to his reputation, which has prompted him to take legal action against Tharoor.
In its September 21 order, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate stated: "Based on the submissions and material placed on record, which prima facie disclose the ingredients of the offence, I take cognisance of the offences under Sections 500 IPC and 171G IPC."
The complaint further alleged that Tharoor defamed Chandrashekhar by making false and derogatory statements on national television, knowingly misrepresenting facts with the intent to harm his reputation and influence the election outcome.
Additionally, it was claimed that the interview was widely circulated by various news channels and social media platforms at the behest of the proposed accused, leading to reputational damage and ultimately contributing to Chandrashekhar's electoral defeat in 2024.
It was alleged that the proposed accused had defamed the complainant by making false and derogatory imputations on the national television that he had been bribing voters in the Thiruvananthapuram Constituency knowing fully well that such statements were false and with the intent to lower complainant's reputation and to affect the result of upcoming elections.
It was also alleged that the interview(s) was/were published by various news channels as well as on social media platforms at the behest of the proposed accused and resulted in loss of reputation of the complainant in the society, which ultimately resulted in the complainant losing the Lok Sabha Elections, 2024.
