Rahul Gandhi regrets before Supreme Court on 'Chowkidar Chor hai' remarks

Guwahati: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday admitted that he had misquoted the Supreme Court after its ruling on the Rafale fighter jet deal and regretted for his jibe against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as 'Chowkidar Chor hai.'

Rahul Gandhi said that his words were mostly in response to the ruling BJP claiming victory after a Supreme Court order in December giving the government a clean chit in the case.

The BJP Spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi had filed a petition in the top court after Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally with 'Chowkidar Chor Hai.'

Gandhi in his statement to the Supreme Court said that his political opponents wrongly projected that he had deliberately and intentionally suggested that the Supreme Court had said "Chowkidar Chor hai." He further said that it is clear that no court would ever say that and hence I regret to the court order and to the political juxtaposition in the same breath in the heat of the political campaigning.

The Congress President in a statement to media said that the Supreme Court had agreed that Prime Minister Modi had committed corruption in the Rafale deal was a political diatribe against opponents who had gone to town citing a clean chit from the court and it was in continuance of his constant campaign slogan 'Chowkidar Chor hai.'

The apex court on April 10 had ruled that classified documents accessed by the media can be used as evidence to consider requests to review its clean chit to the Rafale deal.

Meenakshi Lekhi in a tweet said, "It's an admission of guilt and thus contempt. Considering the need to protect the integrity of the court in these testing times, such an admission is a vindication of the petition. I hope and pray that it is responded with strictest rebuke by the court."

The Supreme Court had given a week time earlier to Rahul Gandhi to explain after the BJP filed a contempt case against him. A three judges led by the Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that they make it clear that the statement attributed to this court in the address made by Gandhi to the media and public have been incorrectly attributed to this court and the court made it clear that it never made such observation and the court only decided on the admissibility of documents.

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