The Supreme Court
on Monday adjourned till January 29 the hearing on Bihar Deputy Chief Minister
Tejashwi Yadav's petition seeking transfer of the criminal defamation complaint
pending against him in a Ahmedabad court over his alleged "only Gujaratis
can be thugs" remark to a place outside the state, preferably Delhi.
A bench of
Justices A S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan deferred the matter after the counsel for the
complainant sought time.
"Why should
the prosecution continue when he has withdrawn the statement. You seek
instructions otherwise we will exercise powers under Article 142," the
bench said.
"The counsel
for the respondent seeks time to seek instructions on statement filed by the
petitioner (Yadav) on January 19. List on next Monday," the top court
recorded in its order.
The top court,
while hearing the RJD leader's plea, had earlier stayed the proceedings in the
criminal defamation complaint and issued notice to the Gujarat resident who has
filed it.
The complaint
against Yadav was filed under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code
(IPC) for alleged criminal defamation.
The Gujarat court
had in August conducted a preliminary enquiry against Yadav under section 202
of the Code of Criminal Procedure and found sufficient grounds to summon him on
the complaint filed by Haresh Mehta, a local businessman and activist.
According to the
complaint, Yadav, while talking to the media in Patna in March 2023, had said,
"Only Gujaratis can be thugs in the present situation, and their fraud
will be forgiven." "Who will be responsible if they run away
with the money belonging to the LIC or banks?" the Bihar Deputy CM had
allegedly asked.
Mehta claimed Yadav's
comments defamed all Gujaratis.