A Kolkata court issued an arrest warrant against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday, 13 August, over his alleged remark that the BJP, if voted to power again, would rewrite the Constitution and pave the way for creation of a "Hindu Pakistan".
Tharoor's alleged statement had sparked off a controversy with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanding an apology from the Congress leader.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Dipanjan Sen issued a bailable warrant against the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram on a petition filed by lawyer Sumit Chowdhury claiming that the statement promoted disharmony among people.
The matter has been scheduled for hearing again on 24 September.
Chowdhury, in a case filed 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 promote enmity between different groups of people on religious grounds.
The petitioner also claimed that Tharoor’s statement had violated section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
Chowdhury also said Tharoor was not represented in court by any lawyer during Tuesday's hearing, following which the warrant was issued against the Congress MP.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)