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Made error, will apologise for 'chowkidar chor hai' comment: Rahul Gandhi to Supreme Court

WION
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaWritten By: Jessica TanejaUpdated: Apr 30, 2019, 04:00 PM IST
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File photo of Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Photograph:(Zee News Network)

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Gandhi filed a second affidavit in the court on Monday reiterating his stand and again expressing regret on his remarks on the Rafale verdict.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday lashed out at Rahul Gandhi on the affidavit that the Congress president has filed in connection with the court's April 10 verdict on Rafale case.

"You took 22 pages in the affidavit to express regret? We refrained from saying anything further in the last hearing but this is your second affidavit. You attributed the comment to us and now you are trying to justify?" the bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said.

The bench asked Gandhi to file another affidavit and posted the matter for hearing on May 6.

Gandhi filed a second affidavit in the court on Monday reiterating his stand and again expressing regret on his remarks on the Rafale verdict. Gandhi said that unfortunate references to the court order and juxtaposition of the political slogan in the same breath ought not to be construed as suggesting that the court had given any finding or conclusion on that issue.

"It is unfortunate that this slogan got intermingled with my comments on and references to the apex court's order. My statement was made in the heat of political campaigning," he said in his affidavit.

After the court rap today, Gandhi's lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi - appearing on his behalf - told the bench, "There's nothing wrong in the affidavit but allow me to rectify. I will apologise. I made error. For 18 months I have been trying to say that the PM and other party workers are complicit, hence the comment (chowkidar chor hai)."

During the course of the hearing, lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said, "He says he is a literate person and then doesn't read the Rafale order copy. He has deliberately put words in the mouth of Supreme Court for political gains, to say 'look the Supreme Court said this'. It's deliberate and completely irresponsible."

Rohatgi is representing BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi who has filed the petition against Gandhi for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a thief and attributing his remark to Supreme Court's judgement.

The Congress president had claimed that the apex court has made it "clear" that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "committed a theft". He had made the statement while interacting with reporters in Amethi after filing his nomination papers.