Rafale case: SC closes contempt plea against Rahul Gandhi, says ‘he needs to be more careful’

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (File)

The Supreme Court Thursday closed the contempt proceedings against former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for wrongly attributing to the apex court his “chowkidar chor hai” remark in the Rafale case against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“It is unfortunate that without any verification certain remarks were made by the contemnor (Rahul Gandhi) against the prime minister,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said. The bench added that “Mr. Gandhi needs to be more careful in future.”  Follow Rafale verdict LIVE updates

The contempt plea was filed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi against Gandhi, who made the remarks on April 10, the day the apex court had dismissed the Centre’s preliminary objections over the admissibility of certain documents for supporting the review petitions against the December 14 last year verdict in the Rafale case.

Referring to the affidavit filed by Gandhi tendering an unconditional apology, the bench said, “Gandhi enjoys an important position in the political spectrum and no court should be dragged to political discourse, whether valid or invalid”.

Gandhi should apologise to nation: BJP

Hitting at Rahul Gandhi after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to the government on the Rafale deal, BJP working president J P Nadda said the Congress leader had tried to mislead the country on the issue and should now apologise.

“From road to Parliament, Rahul Gandhi and his party tried hard to mislead the country on this issue but truth prevailed. I wish Rahul Gandhi would be in country and should apologise to nation,” Nadda said.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, while addressing a press conference at the party office in New Delhi also said that the Congress and in particular Rahul Gandhi must apologise to the country.

“It is recognition of the honest decision-making process of the Narendra Modi government…Satayamav Jayete. The Congress party must apologise and Rahul Gandhi in particular must apologise to the country,” Prasad said.