SupremeCourt has quashed the criminal defamation complaint filed against the ex-Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav over his ‘Gujarati Cheats’ remark.
On January 29, the Scion of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD )Tejashwi Yadav was asked by the court to file his clear statement in remark made by him in 2023 “Gujarati hi thag hai ho sakta hai” (only Gujaratis can be cheats)and withdraw it.
The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjain Bhuyan asked the RJD leader for a simple statement on the matter as his statement was unclear.
The bench said that the RJD leader can withdraw whatever was said by him about a particular community and file a better statement. The Court also gave one week to the leader for filing a fresh statement given what transpired in court.
The complaint was filed in Ahmedabad by All India Anti-Corruption and Crime Preventive Council (Gujarat State) vice president Haresh Mehta. This organisation filed case under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code.
In the defamation case, the complaint stated that the statement made in public, labelling the entire Gujarati community “thugs”, defamed and humiliated all Gujaratis
The lawyer of the complainant contended that remarks were targeted on entire Gujarati community”.
The court concurred with the notion that whatever Yadav had said against the particular community or a people or particular state, requires withdrawal.
In March 2023, during a press conference, Tejashwi said that
During a press conference in March 2023, Yadav allegedly said that Gujarati hi thag hai ho sakta hai (only Gujaratis can be thugs) in the present situation, and their fraud (crime) will be forgiven. Who will be responsible if they abscond after they are offered the money belonging to the LIC and the bank?”
The Supreme Court issued a notice and paused the defamation trial against the RJD leader last year in November.