Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court over a contempt notice against him for “incorrectly attributing” a remark in the Rafale deal case.
In his affidavit, the 48-year-old Gandhi reiterated his stand that he expressed regret over attributing the comment ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ to the top court.
In the affidavit Gandhi said that he had no intention of dragging the court into politics and alleged that it was the petitioner, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, who is playing politics.
Gandhi’s affidavit was filed a day before the apex court hears the case.
Rahul Gandhi, while welcoming the Supreme Court’s decision to examine fresh revelations on the Rafale deal on 10 April, claimed a moral victory and said that the court has made it clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “committed theft”.
“The Supreme Court has made it clear that ‘chowkidarji’ (watchman) has committed a theft,” Gandhi told reporters during a rally in Amethi.
Lekhi file a criminal contempt petition against Gandhi. The top court had on 15 April sought Gandhi’s response.
The Congress president then expressed “his regret” in the Supreme Court over his remarks but did not apologise.
In his reply to the Supreme Court, Rahul Gandhi said his statements were “used and misused by the political opponents” and that he “gave the statements in the heat of the political campaigning.”
Not satisfied with the reply, the top court issued a notice to Gandhi on 23 April.
Lekhi had claimed in her petition that “the words used and attributed by him to the SC in the Rafale case has been made to appear something else. He is replacing his personal statement as the Supreme Court’s order and trying to create prejudice”.
A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took note of the matter and said, “We make it clear the statement attributed to this court in the address made by the respondent (Rahul Gandhi) to the media and public has been incorrectly attributed to this court. We make it clear this court never made such observation.”
The apex court has exempted Gandhi from making a personal appearance in the case.
Besides hearing the contempt petition against Gandhi, the court will also hear the pending review petitions against the 14 December 2018 verdict in the Rafale deal on Tuesday.