Gujarat court summons Tejashwi Yadav on Sep 22 over ‘only Gujaratis can be thugs’ comment

A metropolitan court in Ahmedabad on Monday issued summons to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in a criminal defamation case filed against him over his reported remarks that “only Gujaratis can be thugs”. The court of Additional Metropolitan Magistrate DJ Parmar issued summons to the senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader to appear before it on September 22 in a case filed against him under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for criminal defamation. The court had conducted an inquiry against Yadav under section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and had found sufficient grounds to summon him on the basis of a complaint filed by Haresh Mehta, a 69-year-old social worker and businessman based in Ahmedabad. Mehta had filed his complaint in the court along with proof of Yadav’s statement made before the media in Patna in Bihar on March 21 this year. “Only Gujaratis can be thugs in the present situation and their fraud will be forgiven. Who will be responsible if they abscond after they are offered money belonging to the LIC and banks,” Yadav had said. Mehta, in his complaint, said the statement, which was made in public, defames and humiliates Gujaratis. A term like “thug” refers to a rogue, sly and criminal person, and such a comparison will cause non-Gujaratis to look at Gujaratis with suspicion, Mehta said in his complaint and sought maximum punishment for Yadav. Significantly, in March this year, a Surat court had sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail for his ‘Modi surname’ remark, which led to him being disqualified as Lok Sabha member, but a stay on the conviction by the Supreme Court on August 4 led to him being reinstated as Wayanad MP. A court in Ahmedabad has issued summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party colleague Sanjay Singh in a criminal defamation case filed by the Gujarat University for their media statements connected to a HC judgment on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree. The two AAP leaders have been directed to remain present in court on August 31.