Kerala HC stays criminal defamation case against Arnab, issues notice to Shashi Tharoor

The High Court of Kerala has stayed the proceedings in the criminal defamation against Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV. The case has been filed by Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor for airing defamatory statements against him in the context of his wife, Sunanda Pushkar’s death. Live Law reports that P Vijaya Bhanu, senior advocate who appeared for Goswami in the High Court, stated that Tharoor had suppressed the fact that a chargesheet has been filed by the Delhi Police against him for abetment of suicide of his wife. “It was also stated that the Tharoor’s criminal complaint was filed with mala fides in furtherance of his personal enmity against Goswami,” Live Law noted. Tharoor has been charged under sections 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.