Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday, in his affidavit before the Supreme Court said that his “Sarvoch Nyayalay ne kaha hai, Chowkidar chor hai” (The Supreme Court has said that the ‘Chowkidar’ is a thief) statement was meant to counter the misinformation spread by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the Court had given it a clean chit in the Rafale case.
BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi had filed a criminal contempt petition in the SC against Gandhi for the said remark, claiming that Gandhi had wilfully attributed the statement to the court.
Bar&Bench reported that Gandhi’s affidavit said that the statement was amde in the heat of political campaigning. “My statement was made in the heat of political 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!” said the affidavit.
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It further added, “The said statements were made by the Respondent (Rahul Gandhi) in Hindi in a rhetorical flourish in the heat of the moment. It was during a political campaign without a readable copy of the Supreme Court order being available on its website and, therefore, without the answering Respondent having seen or read the order and relying upon electronic and social media reportage and the version of workers and activists surrounding the Respondent.”
Unlike what has been reported widely, Gandhi actually reaffirmed the Congress’ stance on the Rafale deal. Saying that it is his “firm belief” that PM Modi is “involved in misdemeanours” in the deal, Gandhi also negated the claim that his statement was meant to ‘wilfully’ misrepresent the court’s order.
“There was no attempt to wilfully misrepresent the order of this Hon’ble Court. The question of willfully intending to prejudice the public against Sh. narendra Modi as is strangely suggested by the Petitioner in Para 14 of the Contempt Petition does not arise in view of the fact that it is the firm belief of the answering Respondent that Sh. Narendra Modi is involved in misdemeanours in the Rafale deal and this has been the stand of several persons in political discourse over the last year,” said the affidavit, reported Bar & Bench.
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He clarified that he meant to convey that the SC Rafale judgment of 14th December, 2018 was neither final nor binding. And that after directing to hear the Rafale review petition on merits, the court had found sufficient material to take a closer look.
In this regard, Gandhi also expressly named BJP leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, finance minister Arun Jaitley and minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj who attributed statements to the SC after its December 14, 2018 order, where it had dismissed Rafale petition. These leaders had falsely claimed that the court had given the government a ‘clean chit’ when it had done no such thing, the affidavit pointed out.
He specifically pointed out an interview given by PM Modi to ABP News. In the interview, “…the Prime Minister clearly suggested that the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India had given him a clean chit in the Rafale Deal and that the channel was asking him about a “false news” as per the Supreme Court.”
Gandhi also reportedly said that the contempt process brought against him was an abuse of the Court’s process and denied every contention and insinuation of the contempt petition levelled against him.
(With PTI Inputs)