Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday, 29 April, filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court after a notice was issued to him on a contempt case for his remarks on the Rafale case verdict, expressing regret yet again for attributing the "chowkidar chor hai" remarks to the apex court.
The Congress President also sought dismissal of the contempt petition filed by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi, saying it was an abuse of the process of the court.
“It is also clear that no court would ever do that and hence the unfortunate references (for which I express regret) to the court order and to the political slogan in juxtaposition the same breath in the heat of political campaigning was ought not to be construed as suggesting that the court had given any finding or conclusion on that issue," he said in his affidavit.
The apex court had on 23 April issued notice to Gandhi on a criminal contempt petition filed against him by Lekhi for his remarks.
In his affidavit, Gandhi said he did not have the slightest or remotest intention to bring the court into political arena, or bring it into disrepute by attributing something which the court had not said.
“At the outset, it is clarified that the answering respondent (Gandhi) did not have the slightest or remotest intention, desire or even thought process to bring the court into the political arena, or bring it into disrepute or attribute to it deliberately or wilfully that which the court has not said or meant.”Rahul Gandhi’s affifavit
The affidavit also mentions that "the answering respondent (Gandhi) would also submit that his statement on 10 April 2019, had also been made in that context, purely politically, to counter the aforesaid misinformation campaign being led by senior functionaries of the BJP as well as the government that the judgment of this court dated 14 December 2018, was a clean chit to the government regarding all aspects of the Rafale deal.”
"It is also noteworthy that the Rafale issue which had been and continues to be one of the most prominent political and social issues in this country for many months and despite the matter being sub judice it has been the subject of incessant discussion in civil society and the media," Gandhi said.
The counsel appearing for Gandhi mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and said they be allowed to file a reply on the contempt notice.
The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, allowed advocate Sunil Fernandes, who was appearing for Gandhi, to file the counter affidavit.
The apex court had earlier said it will hear the criminal contempt petition on 30 April.
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