Supreme Court Quashes Defamation Case Against Tejashwi Yadav Over 'Gujarati Cheats' Remarks After He Withdraws Statement

The Supreme Court today quashed the complaint of criminal defamation filed against former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav over alleged "Gujarati hi thag hai ho sakta hai (only Gujaratis can be cheats)" remark made by him during a media address.

To recap, the Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan was dealing with a transfer petition filed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader under Section 406 CrPC seeking transfer of the criminal defamation complaint from Ahmedabad to Delhi or any other "neutral venue".

The complaint was preferred by Haresh Mehta, vice-president of All India Anti-Corruption and Crime Preventive Council (Gujarat State), a voluntary organization based in Ahmedabad, under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code.

While issuing notice to the complainant on November 6, 2023, the top Court had stayed further proceedings in the case. Subsequently, Yadav had filed an affidavit withdrawing his remarks, leading the Court to ask the complainant if there was anything left in the case.

To the initial affidavit filed by Yadav, the complainant raised an objection that the withdrawal of the impugned statement was not clear. It was his case that Yadav's remarks were meant to harm the entire Gujarati community and he was not satisfied with the affidavit in its initial form. Accordingly, the Court asked Yadav to file a fresh affidavit within a week withdrawing his statements.

On the last date, the order was reserved by the Bench.

Notably, the case emanated out of the following remarks said to have been made by Yadav in 2022,

"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?)

Now, the complaint has been quashed, considering Yadav's unconditional withdrawal of the statement that gave rise to it. A perusal of the Court's order would show that in his affidavits, Yadav claimed that he holds Gujarati community in great esteem and had no intention of defaming it. He further said that Gujarati community gave the greatest gift to mankind in the form of Mahatma Gandhi.

Referring to the statement in question, Yadav also explained in the affidavits that the same was made outside Bihar Legislative Assembly in response to a question posed to him regarding alleged revocation of Red Corner Notice against fugitive Mehul Choksi.

Counsels for petitioner/Yadav: Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal; Advocates Varun Jain, Navin Kumar, Akhilesh Singh Rawat, Aparajita Jamwal and Radhika Goyal

Case Title: Tejashwi Prasad Yadav v. Hareshbhai Pranshankar Mehta, TP(Crl) No. 846/2023