Will move court to get clarification on arrest warrant: Shashi

PTI, Dec 22, 2019, 4:57 PM IST

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress Leader Shashi Tharoor Sunday said he would move court to get clarification about the news of an arrest warrant issued against him in a defamation case filed by a lawyer for allegedly defaming Hindu women in his book ‘The Great Indian Novel’ penned in 1989.

The arrest warrant was issued against the Thiruvananthapuram MP on December 21 after he failed to appear before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in a defamation case, the complainant, advocate Sandhya, told PTI.

“He had made a defamatory statement against Nair women in his book ‘the Great Indian Novel’.

I filed a case in April under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code. The court had issued summons to him to appear before it on December 21. He failed to do so,” Sandhya said.

However, Tharoor Sunday clarified it through his official Twitter handle that he has highest respect for the judiciary and no contempt of court was intended.

He also posted the image of the summons he received, which did not specify the date for his appearance in court.

“Many have asked about media reports relating to a case filed by a BJP Mahila Morcha lawyer,about a line in my 30-yr- old #GreatIndianNovel.

I have the highest respect for the judiciary& no contempt of court was intended.

As may be seen (attached) I recd a summons w/no date specified,” the tweet read.

“Accordingly the lawyer inquired with the court and was told this was an inadvertent clerical error & a fresh summons would be issued.We are still awaiting summons but saw news of the arrest warrant instead.

We will approach the honble court Monday to clarify,” Tharoor tweeted.

Tharoor’s office had on Saturday clarified that they had not received any arrest warrant and the summons which they got was without a date for his appearance.

The office of the Thiruvananthapuram MP came to know about the warrant through media reports.

‘The Great Indian Novel’, first published in 1989, is a satirical novel by Tharoor.

The fictional work is a story set in the context of Indian Independence movement, recast from the story of Mahabharata, the Indian epic.