Delhi court grants bail to Shashi Tharoor over 'scorpion' remarks

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday appeared before the Rouse Avenue Court in connection with his 'scorpion over sitting on a shivling' remark case. The Court has granted bail to him on a personal bond of Rs 20,000. The matter will now be heard on July 25 for the recording of statement of the complainant and BJP leader Rajeev Babbar.

Babbar has alleged that Tharoor's remarks hurt his religious sentiments. Last year on October 28, Tharoor, quoting an unnamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) source, launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi likening him with a scorpion sitting on a 'shivling'.

Speaking about his book 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister' at the Bengaluru Literature Festival, Tharoor asserted that the "personality cult of Prime Minister Modi has not gone down well with the RSS and has been a cause of frustration within its ranks". He elucidated, "There's an extraordinarily striking metaphor expressed by an unnamed RSS source to a journalist, who expressed their frustration to curb Modi - 'Modi is like a scorpion sitting on a 'shivling'. You can't remove him with your hand and you cannot hit it with a 'chappal' (slipper) either."