Supreme Court Issues Notice On Tejashwi Yadav's Plea To Transfer Defamation Case Over 'Gujarati Cheats' Remark From Ahmedabad To 'Neutral Venue'; Stays Trial

The Supreme Court on Monday (November 6) issued notice on the petition filed by Tejashwi Yadav(Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and RJD leader) seeking to transfer the criminal defamation complaint filed against him in Ahmedabad for his alleged "Gujarati hi thag hai ho sakta hai(only Gujaratis can be cheats)" remark to Delhi or any other "neutral venue".

While issuing notice to the complainant, the bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal also stayed the further proceedings on the complainant. The petition, filed under Section 406 CrPC, will be next considered on January 5, 2024.

RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav(petitioner) is facing accusations of criminal defamation under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). These allegations stem from a purported statement he made during a media address on March 22 : "Jo do thag hai naa, jo thag hai, thagi ko jo anumati hai, aaj ke desh ke halat mein dekha jayein toh sirf Gujarati hi thag ho sakte hai aur uske thag ko maaf kiya jaayega. LIC ka paisa, bank ka paisa de do, fir vo log leke bhaag jaayenge, toh kaun jimmevar hoga"(The two cheats that are there, the permission given to cheats, if today’s situation in the country is seen, then only Gujaratis can be cheats and their cheating will be forgiven. They will be given LIC’s money, banks’ money and they will run away with it. Who will be held responsible?)

Presently, the case is pending before Additional Metropolitan Magistrate in Ahmedabad and is scheduled for next hearing on 2nd December.

At the outset, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing on behalf of the petitioner, questioned the defamatory nature of the statement stating “Please look at statement at para 21, how is it defamatory?

He added “It's better to look at Hindi- "Mehul Choksi pe jo notice tha wo hat diya gya hai CBI..."

Meanwhile, Justice Oka interjected, “Your case is for transfer. See the Answer given in 2nd line- Aj ke halat me dekha jaye to gujarati hi thag ho sakte hain(in the present state, only Gujaratis can be cheats)”

Sibal said that the statement should read as "Gujarat hi," not "Gujarati hi" and that the statement was made with reference to two persons only.

Justice Oka pointed out that the statement suggested “this can happen only in Gujarat.” Justice Oka added, “You’re also a politician. We'll issue notice but take instruction.”

At the end, Justice Oka remarked “On a lighter vein, this can be said about many states also.”

To this, Sr Adv Sibal assured the court that “we'll make sure this doesn't happen.”

Case title: Tejashwi Prasad Yadav v. Hareshbhai Pranshankar Mehta

Citation: TP(Crl) No. 846/2023

For petitioner: Sr Adv Kapil Sibal, AOR Ajay Vikram Singh, Advocates Varun Jain, Aparajita Jamwal Navin Kumar, Akhilesh Singh, Sumit Singh and Radhika Goyal

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