Supreme Court quashes defamation case against Tejashwi Yadav after he withdraws his 'Gujaratis are cheats' remark

The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the criminal defamation complaint filed against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav after he withdrew certain remarks that were allegedly aimed to defame Gujaratis [Tejashwi Prasad Yadav vs Hareshbhai Pranshankar Mehta]..A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order on a plea filed by Yadav to transfer the defamation trial to a court outside Gujarat. "The petitioner has stated that he holds Gujaratis as a community in great esteem and has no ill will or animus against them. In fact, he has stated that Gujarat has given the greatest gift to mankind of Mahatma Gandhi. He has repeatedly stated that he had no intention of defaming Gujaratis as a community", the bench noted.The top court noted that not all defamation complaints can be quashed on grounds, but the current case was a fit one to exercise its plenary powers under Article 142. "After the petitioner has explained the context in which he made the statements and after withdrawal of those statements, in the facts of the case, it is unjust to continue the prosecution. No purpose will be served by continuing the prosecution", the bench observed..The criminal defamation complaint was filed against Yadav after he was reported to have commented that "only Gujaratis can be cheats."The complaint was filed before a magistrate court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat by Haresh Mehta, the vice president of an organisation called the All India Anti-Corruption and Crime Preventive Council. Mehta stated that Yadav's remark caused “mental and physical harm” to Gujaratis and urged the magistrate court to summon Yadav.The accused former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister eventually moved 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 while issuing notice on Yadav's plea. Later, the Court asked the RJD leader whether he was willing to withdraw the remarks in question,and called for a specific statement in that regard.Since Yadav has now withdrawn his remarks, the Court today set aside the defamation proceedings against him. .Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for Yadav along with advocates Varun Jain, Navin Kumar, Akhilesh Singh and Radhika Goyal..[Read judgment].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.