The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the criminal defamation complaint filed against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav after he withdrew certain remarks that were allegedly aimed to defame Gujaratis [Tejashwi Prasad Yadav vs Hareshbhai Pranshankar Mehta].A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order on a plea filed by Yadav to transfer the defamation trial to a court outside Gujarat."We have quashed the case in view of petitioner withdrawing his statements on record. Accordingly disposed of," the Court said.The criminal defamation complaint was filed against Yadav after he was reported to have commented that "only Gujaratis can be cheats."The complaint was filed before a magistrate court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat by Haresh Mehta, the vice president of an organisation called the All India Anti-Corruption and Crime Preventive Council.Mehta stated that Yadav's remark caused “mental and physical harm” to Gujaratis and urged the magistrate court to summon Yadav.The accused former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister eventually moved the Supreme Court seeking the transfer of the defamation trial from Gujarat to a 'neutral place.'In November 2023, the Supreme Court stayed the proceedings while issuing notice on Yadav's plea.Later, the Court asked the RJD leader whether he was willing to withdraw the remarks in question,and called for a specific statement in that regard.Since Yadav has now withdrawn his remarks, the Court today set aside the defamation proceedings against him.Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for Yadav along with advocates Varun Jain, Navin Kumar, Akhilesh Singh and Radhika Goyal.
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