New Delhi- The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued a notice on BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s plea challenging the dismissal of his defamation complaint against Congress Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor. A single-judge Bench of Justice Ravinder Dudeja sought Tharoor’s stand on Chandrasekhar’s revision plea against an order of the magisterial court which had refused to issue a summons to the Congress leader.

In its order passed on February 4, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal held that prima facie, no ingredients of defamation were made out against the Congress parliamentarian. During the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Tharoor, in a TV interview, alleged that Chandrasekhar, the BJP candidate for Thiruvananthapuram constituency, “bribed” key voters and influential figures such as Christian parish priests. In response, Chandrasekhar moved the court, accusing Tharoor of disseminating false and misleading information, and had a defamation notice served on Tharoor. In his notice, the BJP leader had expressed "shock" at the allegations made by Shashi Tharoor in a TV interview by a Kerala-based news organisation called '24 News’.

Chandrasekhar demanded that Tharoor immediately withdraw all the allegations and sought an unconditional public apology through print and electronic media. The BJP leader claimed that such defamatory statements have harmed and disrespected the entire Christian community of Thiruvananthapuram and its leaders by accusing them of engaging in cash-for-votes activities. As per Chandrasekhar, Shashi Tharoor had concocted these allegations and circulated them in order to influence the voters in Thiruvananthapuram.

The legal notice stated that Tharoor has made these statements "with an intent to harm" Rajeev Chandrasekhar. “Immediately withdraw all the allegations and aspersions made by you, the notice against our client Rajeev Chandrashekhar, on the aforesaid news channel dated 06.04.2024. Tender an unconditional public apology to our client to his satisfaction through print and electronic media with regard to the said baseless allegations and aspersions made by you and stop indulging in any such activities in the future,” the notice read. The Delhi High Court will hear Chandrasekhar’s revision plea next on September 16. (IANS)