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Updated: Nov 12, 2019 14:04 IST

A Delhi court has issued a bailable warrant against senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in a criminal defamation case filed by BJP leader Rajiv Babbar over the former’s scorpion remark in 2018 regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The judge also imposed a cost of Rs 500 on Babbar for his not appearing in court. The hearing has been scheduled for November 27.

“Taking a lenient view, bailable warrant issued against the accused in the sum of Rs 5,000 and notice to his surety...,” the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate said.

The court was hearing the criminal defamation complaint filed against Tharoor by Babbar, who has said his religious sentiments were hurt by the Congress leader’s statement.

On October 28, 2018, Tharoor, quoting an unnamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) source, launched a sharp attack on 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”.

“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.”

The BJP was quick to attack Tharoor over the comment asking then Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to explain the comment. “The whole nation is watching... while Rahul Gandhi who claims himself to be a Shiv Bhakt, one of his small leaders has almost abused the sanctity of Shiv Linga and Lord Mahadev by referring to chappal attack through named sources. Please reply to this very horrific denunciation of Lord Mahadev,” BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad had said.