Ahmedabad: A metropolitan court here in the city today issued a summons against Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in a defamation case regarding his reported comments that “Only Gujaratis can be thugs”. He has been summoned to appear in court on September 22.

A hearing was conducted today in the court of Additional Metropolitan Magistrate DJ Parmar in a criminal defamation case filed against Tejashvi Yadav for his statement referring to Gujaratis as thugs. Up until this point, 15 witnesses have testified on behalf of the state, and the original video evidence of Tejashwi Yadav’s statement was obtained from a private news channel.

Ahmedabad, Gujarat: “On defamation case against Tejashwi Yadav, for using ‘thugs’ word for Gujaratis, the Court has issued summons to him and has asked him to be present in court on 22nd September…”, says Advocate Praful R Patel, Complainant’s lawyer to ANI pic.twitter.com/OzH8PtXvNh

— DeshGujarat (@DeshGujarat) August 28, 2023

Haresh Mehta, a resident of Ahmedabad, filed a complaint against Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in the metro court, invoking sections 499 and 500 of the IPC due to his derogatory remarks about Gujaratis. The a 69-year-old complainant serves as the Vice President of the All India Anti-Corruption and Crime Prevention Council.

During the hearing on August 8, as per Rule 202 of the CrPC, after the inquiry was concluded, the petitioner’s counsel requested a summons under Rule 204 against the accused, Tejashwi Yadav. The petitioner’s lawyer, Praful Patel, highlighted that there are 364 different castes residing in Gujarat. Consequently, any derogatory statement made reflects poorly on the entire population of Gujarat. The accused holds the position of Deputy Chief Minister of a state, and his statement carries weight within society.

During an interaction with the media outside the Bihar assembly on March 21st, Yadav had reportedly targeted the entire Gujarati community by stating, “In today’s situation, only a Gujarati can be a thug in this country.” The video footage from the news channel was also included with the complaint. DeshGujarat