Sashi Tharoor’s alleged comment had sparked off a controversy with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asking an apology from the Congress leader.
A city court assigned an arrest warrant against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday over his alleged remark that the BJP, if voted to power again, would rewrite the Constitution and pave the way for the creation of a “Hindu Pakistan”.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Dipanjan Sen issued a bailable warrant against the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram on a petition filed by lawyer Sumit Chowdhury demanding that the statement promoted disharmony among people. The topic has been scheduled for hearing again on September 24.
Sumit Chowdhury, in a case registered 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 increase hatred between different groups of people on religious grounds.
The petitioner also declared that Tharoor’s statement had disrupted section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
Sumit Chowdhury also told Tharoor was not represented in court by any lawyer during Tuesday’s hearing, following which the warrant was assigned against the Congress MP.