The Supreme Court today granted a week’s time to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to file a clear statement withdrawing the remarks made by him last year. Last year in March, while addressing the media, the RJD leader said that only Gujaratis can be cheats.
The bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan sought a simple and clear statement from Tejashwi Yadav after an objection was raised by the complainant that the previous statement filed by the RJD leader in the court regarding the withdrawal of statement was not clear.
The Supreme Court verbally remarked that whatever he has said against the particular community or people of a particular state, only requires withdrawal. The court further asked the counsel for the respondent to inform the court if something needs to be added.
Consequently, the complainant’s counsel contended that RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s remarks were meant to harm the entire Gujarati community and that his client was not satisfied with the present statement. The apex court then asked the RJD leader’s counsel to file a new statement within a week withdrawing the remarks made by him.
Previous week, the Supreme Court had asked the complainant Haresh Mehta if the prosecution was any longer necessary since Tejashwi Yadav had withdrawn his remarks about Gujaratis. The Supreme Court was considering a transfer petition filed by Yadav seeking to transfer the criminal defamation complaint filed against him over the remark from Ahmedabad to any venue outside Gujarat.
A social worker and businessman from Ahmedabad, Haresh Mehta, had filed his complaint in a Gujarat court along with the proof of Tejashwi Yadav’s statement made before the media in Patna on March 21, 2023. In this defamation case, Mehta said that the statement was made in public and calling the entire Gujarati community, thugs defamed and humiliated all Gujaratis.