Yadav sought to transfer the defamation trial to a jurisdiction outside Gujarat by appealing to a bench consisting of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, and the bench granted this request. The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, dismissed the criminal defamation complaint against Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), citing his retraction of specific statements aimed at defaming the Gujarati people.
The bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, to which Yadav had appealed, issued the order to transfer the defamation trial outside Gujarat. The Court stated, “We have dismissed the case in light of the petitioner’s withdrawal of his previously entered statements.” The case was declared “disposed of.”
Yadav had faced criminal defamation charges following allegations that he had made the contentious statement, “Only Gujaratis can be cheats.” The accusation was brought before a magistrate court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, by Haresh Mehta, the vice president of the All India Anti-Corruption and Crime Preventive Council.
Mehta asserted that Yadav’s remark had inflicted “mental and physical harm” upon Gujaratis and urged the magistrate court to compel Yadav’s personal appearance. The former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, in response to the allegations, approached the Supreme Court, seeking the transfer of the defamation prosecution from Gujarat to a “neutral location.”
The Supreme Court intervened in November 2023, halting the proceedings and issuing a notice regarding Yadav’s petition. Following this, the Court inquired whether the RJD leader was willing to retract the contested remarks, demanding a statement to that effect.
