Shashi Tharoor Responds To Defamation Legal Notice From Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Denies All Allegations

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has responded to Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar after the latter sent a legal defamation notice. The three-time MP from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency is currently engaged in a closely watched high-profile contest against Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rajeev Chandrashekhar. Chandrashekhar’s legal notice alleged that Tharoor made “defamatory statements” during an interview with a local news channel, alleging that Rajeev indulged in illegal activities and offered money to voters. He also alleged that Tharoor said that Chandrashekhar “is spreading lies among Christian communities.”

In response to the Union Minister’s notice, Tharoor stated in his reply that he has “knowingly or unknowingly not made any false and malicious imputations” against Rajeev to “defame or harm his deputation without any proof to support or validate the alleged claims.”

Tharoor stated that nowhere in the mentioned program did he make any defamatory statements alleging that Rajeev had engaged in illegal activities such as ‘offering money to voters’ or ‘spreading lies in Christian Communities.’ The statement by Tharoor’s lawyers further emphasized that  “he is not responsible” for “any other versions of the same program” or any editing, post-production changes, studio recordings of casual talks, chats or any other acts that are not intended for broadcasting.
“My client is not responsible for any ‘slander’ as he has not uttered any. Your client is cooking up controversies to deflect people’s attention from his shortcomings and insufficiencies and to mislead their attention to couched up controversies, in his desperate bid to cause a dent on the popularity and acceptability of my client”, the statement read.

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The reply has requested the Union Minister to retract the statements and issue an apology. It also warned that if Chandreshekhar disregards the demands outlined in the notice, Tharoor will be compelled to pursue legal action and initiate civil proceedings against him. “If your client ignores the demands of this notice and continues with his efforts and attempts to defame my client by raising false and fraudulent allegations and accusations against him, my client will be constrained to prosecute your client for the offence punishable under Sections 500, 171G and 211 of Indian Penal Code. My client would also be constrained to initiate Civil action for Unliquidated damages for the loss and damages suffered by him due to the baseless and malicious allegations and accusations levelled against him by your client”, the statement added.

Previously, Rajeev Chandrasekhar had asserted that he would not stay silent if anyone spread falsehoods about him, vowing to utilize all legal means available to ensure accountability. In an interview with ANI, Chandrasekhar remarked that Tharoor, in his desperation, had levied numerous allegations against him.

“I think Mr Tharoor, in his desperation, has flung a lot of allegations at me. One of them was that I am paying money for votes and I have said very clearly that I will not be drawn into this kind of politics. However, if anybody trespasses and says lies about me, I will not be quiet. I will use all the tools under the law to ensure that person is held accountable,” he said.

Kerala, which elects 20 parliamentarians to the Lok Sabha, is scheduled to hold elections on April 26. The counting of votes will be conducted on June 4.

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