RAHUL Gandhi Regrets For Misquoting SC Remark On Rafael Case

RESPONDING  to Supreme Court of India’s  notice  on alleged contempt of  court for  misquoting  it, INC  president Rahul Gandhi on Monday expressed regret over his controversial ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi .Meenakshi Lekhi, BJP MP from New Delhi , has filed a contempt  petition for  wrongly  citing the  SC while it had made certain  remark on admissibility of certain documents related to  Rafale case. Rahul Gandhi said his statement on the issue was misused by the political opponents. “My statement was made in the heat of his campaigning. It has been used (and misused) by my political opponents to project that I had deliberately and intentionally suggested that this court had said Chowkidar Chor Hai,” Gandhi said in his affidavit. I will not attribute any views, observations or findings to the court in political addresses to the media and in public speeches, unless such views, observations or findings are recorded by the court,” he affirmed. The Supreme Court on April 15 issued a notice to him on a criminal contempt petition by Lekhi accusing him of making wrong statements about a recent verdict on admissibility of certain documents in the Rafale case. A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi  will hear the case on Tuesday, April 23.The Bench had given liberty to Lekhi to file additional affidavit. Gandhi  after  filling his nomination papers  for Amethi Parliamentary  Constituency  on April 10  had  told reporters that apex court made it clear that  Prime Minister  Narendra  Modi is  thief. ‘Chowkidarji; (watchman) has committed a theft”. The court, which had earlier cleared the Modi government of accusations of corruption over the Rafale fighter jet deal with France, had rejected government’s objections and said would hear review petition on the basis of the leaked documents, referred to by the petitioners. The Bench—which also included Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna—had said, “…that no views, observations or findings should be attributed to the court in political address to the media and in public speeches, unless such views, observations or findings are recorded by the court.”The notice was issued to Gandhi after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Lekhi, had submitted that Gandhi had commented that the “Supreme Court has said that Chowkidar chor hai” in its April 10 verdict on Rafale review petitions. “You were right to the extent we never said what has been brought in the petition. We will seek clarification,” the Bench had noted.