Arrest warrant against Shashi Tharoor over BJP remark

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Bangla Tribune Desk
Published : 15:47, Aug 14, 2019 | Updated : 15:48, Aug 14, 2019

Shashi Tharoor, a member of parliament from India`s main opposition Congress party, speaks during an interview with Thomson Reuters Foundation at his office in New Delhi, India, Jan 25, 2016. REUTERS/File PhotoA Kolkata court on Tuesday (Aug 13) issued an arrest warrant against Congress leader and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor in a case filed over his remark last year that BJP's victory in the 2019 general elections will turn the country into a “Hindu Pakistan.”

Tharoor's alleged statement had sparked off a controversy with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanding an apology from the Congress leader, reports India Today.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Dipanjan Sen issued a bailable warrant against the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram on a petition filed by lawyer Sumit Chowdhury claiming that the statement promoted disharmony among people.

The matter has been scheduled for hearing again on September 24.

Sumit Chowdhury, in a case filed before the CMM court in Kolkata in the wake of Tharoor's alleged statement made at Thiruvananthapuram, claimed that the former Union minister was indulging in a deliberate act to promote enmity between different groups of people on religious grounds.

The petitioner also claimed that Tharoor's statement had violated section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

He also said Tharoor was not represented in court by any lawyer during Tuesday's hearing, following which the warrant was issued against the Congress MP.

/srj/
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