'Why so touchy?' SC suggests closing defamation case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday asked BJP leader Rajiv Babbar to consider closing the defamation case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over his statement comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a scorpion.

A division bench of justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh verbally remarked "let us close all these things. Why get so touchy about all this? This way, administrators and judges come in the same group and have thick skin". The development took place during the resumed hearing of a plea filed by the senior Congress leader against a Delhi High Court order refusing to quash the case against him. The bench eventually adjourned the matter on a request by the counsel for the respondents. Tharoor had petitioned the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court order that rejected his plea to quash the defamation case. The apex court stayed the trial in September 2024 and had sought the response of Babbar and the Delhi government.