A local court in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala has issued an arrest warrant against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in connection with a case filed against him for allegedly defaming Hindu women in one of his books.

The arrest warrant was issued by Thiruvananthapuram Chief Judicial First Class Magistrate. The warrant was issued after Shashi Tharoor failed to present himself or through his lawyer at the court.

The name of the book is 'The Great Indian Novel', first published in 1989. Shashi Tharoor's office reacted to the development and said the court did issue an order but it did not have a date.

Reacting to the development, Shashi Tharoor's office said, "Only through media we know that an arrest warrant has been issued. We got summons from court earlier in which only the time of appearing was mentioned and not date."

The statement said the issue was brought to the notice of the court but no fresh summons was sent.

"This was brought to the notice of the court by our advocate and we were told that fresh summons with date will be issued. We have not received a fresh summons. This will be brought to the notice of the court on Monday and will take steps accordingly," the statement read.

(With inputs from Niraj Singh)