The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed proceedings before a trial court against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a defamation case lodged against him for his alleged "scorpion on Shivling" remarks targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and R. Mahadevan issued notice to the Delhi government and the complainant in the case. The notice is returnable in four weeks.

Tharoor moved the top court against the Delhi High Court order which refused to quash defamation proceedings against him on August 29.

The Congress leader had sought setting aside of the trial court's April 27, 2019 order summoning him as an accused in the criminal defamation complaint filed by Rajiv Babbar as also the November 2, 2018 complaint.

The criminal complaint was filed against Tharoor in the trial court by Babbar, who claimed that his religious sentiments were hurt by the Congress leader's statement.

In October 2018, Tharoor had claimed that an unnamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader had compared Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a Shivling".

The Congress leader had said it was an "extraordinarily striking metaphor."

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