Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court has taken cognisance of a defamation complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar against Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor. [Rajeev Chandrashekhar v. Shashi Tharoor]

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Divya Malhotra took cognisance of allegations under sections 500 (defamation) and 171G (false statement to influence election) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The complaint by Chandrashekhar stems from statements made by Tharoor during a national television interview, where he allegedly accused Chandrashekhar of bribing voters in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Chandrashekhar has claimed that these statements, which were widely circulated on social media and various news channels, led to the tarnishing of his reputation and contributed to his defeat in the elections.

On September 21, the Court allowed the filing of an amended complaint, stating that the proposed changes do not alter the nature of the complaint, and scheduled the matter for pre-summoning evidence on October 4, 2024.

Chandrashekhar was represented by Senior Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, and advocates Utkarsh Tiwari, Somdev Tiwari, Dhruv Mehta, Amrita Vatsa, Vaibhav Kapur, Muskan Sharma, Anmol Bhaskar, and Vaibhav Gaggar.

[Read Order]