AHMEDABAD: A metropolitan court in Ahmedabad on Monday issued summons against the Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav seeking his presence on September 22 over his alleged remark, “Looking at the present condition of the country, only Gujaratis can be cheats (thug).”
The court has summoned Yadav after conducting an inquiry over a period of four months under section 202 of the CrPC and examining 15 witnesses at the behest of complainant Haresh Mehta, a representative of an NGO – All India Anti-corruption and Crime Preventive Council. He sought action against the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader under provisions of sections 499 and 500 of the IPC for defaming the Gujarati people in general.
Besides examining witnesses, the court also called for material from a news channel, a feed on basis of which Mehta claimed to have watched for filing his defamation plaint.
The complainant has taken exception to Yadav's statement that he watched on a YouTube channel. He quoted Yadav saying, “Those two are the cheats, and they have a permission to cheat. Looking at the present condition of the country, only Gujaratis can be cheats, and their cheating will be pardoned. Give them LIC’s money, bank’s money. They will run away with it, then who will be responsible for it?”
The complainant claimed that Yadav’s statement amounts to defaming the entire society of Gujarat. Because of such a statement, any Gujarati travelling outside Gujarat will be viewed with suspicion.
Besides Yadav, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh are also facing criminal trials in different defamation cases in the metropolitan courts in Ahmedabad.
