New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Monday granted one week to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to submit a revised statement retracting his purported remark that “only Gujaratis can be thugs.” Justices A S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, while scheduling the hearing for February 5th, stated, “We grant one week to the petitioner to file a proper statement.”

On January 19, Yadav submitted an affidavit to the apex court withdrawing his alleged remarks. The Supreme Court was addressing a petition filed by Yadav, seeking the transfer of a criminal defamation complaint from the Ahmedabad court to a location outside the state. During the hearing, the top court had previously stayed the proceedings in the criminal defamation complaint and issued a notice to the Gujarat resident who filed it.

In March 2023, while speaking to the media, Yadav had said, “Only Gujaratis can be thugs in the present situation, and their fraud will be forgiven.” Following this statement, Ahmedabad resident Haresh Mehta filed a complaint, alleging that Yadav’s comments had defamed all Gujaratis. DeshGujarat