Arrest Warrant Against Shashi Tharoor Over His ‘The Great Indian Novel’

Shashi Tharoor’s novel was published in 1989 (File)

New Delhi:

An arrest warrant has been issued against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor by a Thiruvananthapuram court after he failed to appear in a hearing related to a book he had authored 30 years ago. The complainant has alleged that a section of Mr Tharoor’s book, ‘The Great Indian Novel’, is defamatory to ‘Nair’ women. Saturday was the first day of hearing in the case.

Mr Tharoor’s office has said that in the court summons only the time of his appearance was mentioned, not the date. It says it will file an appeal against the warrant.

“Our lawyer had already brought it to the notice of the court that the date was not specified (in the summons). Acknowledging our side, the court had said that they would issue fresh summons with the date. However, there seems to be some confusion. Today was the first day of hearing but we had not received any summons. We will be moving CJM (Chief Judicial Magistrate) in Thiruvananthapuram to appeal against this,” Mr Tharoor’s office told NDTV.

‘The Great Indian Novel’, a satirical novel penned by Mr Tharoor, was first published in 1989. The fictional work presents the story of Indian epic ‘Mahabharata’ in the context of the Independence movement and the first 30 years after the country’s liberation.

Mr Tharoor, a career diplomat-turned-politician, is an accomplished writer, having authored several best-selling books. In 2018, he published two non-fiction books – ‘Why I Am A Hindu’ and ‘The Paradoxical Prime Minister’.

Mr Tharoor is among 23 writers chosen for the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award this year.