The Supreme Court dismissed the defamation case against Tejashwi Yadav following his retraction of the statement “Gujaratis are cheats.” The order was issued by a bench consisting of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan in response to Yadav’s plea to relocate the defamation trial to a court outside Gujarat.
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Today, the Supreme Court dismissed the criminal defamation complaint lodged against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, subsequent to his retraction of certain remarks purportedly targeting Gujaratis
A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan issued the ruling in response to Yadav’s petition seeking the relocation of the defamation trial to a court outside Gujarat.
“We have quashed the case in view of petitioner withdrawing his statements on record. Accordingly disposed of,”
–the Court said.
Following reported comments attributed to Yadav, suggesting that
“only Gujaratis can be cheats,”
a criminal defamation complaint was lodged against him. This complaint was filed before a magistrate court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, by Haresh Mehta, the vice president of an organization named the All India Anti-Corruption and Crime Preventive Council.
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Mehta contended that Yadav’s statement had caused “mental and physical harm” to Gujaratis, urging the magistrate court to summon Yadav.
Subsequently, the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister approached the Supreme Court, seeking the transfer of the defamation trial from Gujarat to a “neutral place.” In November 2023, the Supreme Court stayed the proceedings and issued notice on Yadav’s plea. Later, the Court inquired whether Yadav was willing to retract the remarks in question, calling for a specific statement to that effect.
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Now that Yadav has withdrawn his remarks, the Court has set aside the defamation proceedings against him. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal represented Yadav, assisted by advocates Varun Jain, Navin Kumar, Akhilesh Singh, and Radhika Goyal.
CASE TITLE:
Tejashwi Prasad Yadav vs Hareshbhai Pranshankar Mehta.
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