New Delhi [India], Feb 15 (ANI): A Delhi court on Saturday imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for not appearing during the hearing of a defamation case against him.

BJP leader Rajiv Babbar has filed against Tharoor for his alleged -- 'Scorpion sitting on a Shivling' -- remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Babbar alleged that Tharoor's remarks hurt his religious sentiments.

On October 28 last year, Tharoor, quoting an unnamed RSS source, launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Modi likening him with a scorpion sitting on a 'Shivling'.

Speaking about his book 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister' at the Bengaluru Literature Festival, Tharoor had 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 is 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," Tharoor had said. (ANI)