After Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav told the Supreme Court that he has withdrawn the controversial remarks that “only Gujaratis can be thugs” made by him, the apex court on Monday asked the complainant Haresh Mehta – a Gujarat resident – if the RJD leader’s prosecution was any longer necessary in the wake of his clear statement.
Asking the advocate appearing for the complainant Haresh Mehta to take instruction, a bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said, “The statement is very clear now, make up your mind now, why do you want to prosecute the complaint? He has withdrawn that part of the statement in which he has used certain expressions. So, what more remains now?”
Haresh Mehta is the vice president of an NGO called All India Anti-Corruption and Crime Preventive Council.
The bench gave a week’s time to the advocate appearing for the complainant to take instructions from his client in the wake of the withdrawal of remarks by Yadav and posted the matter for hearing on January 29, 2024.
The top court was hearing a plea of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader, seeking transfer of the criminal defamation complaint pending against him in an Ahmedabad court over his remarks, from Gujarat to a ‘neutral place,’ preferably Delhi.
Earlier, the bench had stayed the proceedings in the criminal defamation complaint and issued notice to Haresh Mehta who had filed it.
The complaint against Yadav was filed under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for alleged criminal defamation. The complaint was filed before a magistrate court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Yadav in his controversial remarks last year had said, “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 bank?”
In the defamation case, Mehta had stated that the statement was made in public and calling the entire Gujarati community thugs defames and humiliates all Gujaratis.