Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday expressed regret for having attributed remarks suggesting corruption by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Supreme Court. Submitting his reply to the Supreme Court on a notice issued by the top court in a contempt case filed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, Rahul admitted that the comments he attributed to the top court were never made.
In his reply in Supreme Court, Rahul Gandhi said “my statements were used and misused by the political opponents.” and that he “gave the statements in the heat of the political campaigning.” https://t.co/99p7e2N2O8
— ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2019
In his response submitted to the Supreme Court, the Congress president admitted that the Supreme Court never made the remarks and that he made the statement in the heat of the election campaign. Rahul has also issued an undertaking promising never to “attribute any views, observations or findings to the court in political addresses to the media and in public speeches, unless such views, observations or findings are recorded by the Court.”
Read Also | ‘SC said chowkidar chor hai’: Meenakshi Lekhi sues Rahul Gandhi over Rafale remark, hearing in top court on Monday
Lekhi dragged the Congress president to court over his statement following the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Rafale deal case. On April 10, the Supreme Court had ruled that documents submitted by the petitioners were admissible as evidence. The court’s ruling came overriding the Centre’s objections on grounds that the documents submitted by the petitioners were stolen and hence inadmissible as evidence.
Following the ruling, Rahul claimed said that the Supreme Court had vindicated his stand by accepting that the Rafale deal involved corruption.
“Supreme Court has made it clear that chowkidar allowed the theft. SC has accepted that some sort of corruption took place in the Rafale deal,” Rahul told reporters in Amethi.
Alleged corruption in the Rafale deal is one of the key planks of the Congress president’s campaign against the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha elections. Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly alleged that PM Modi personally oversaw that the offset contract of the Rafale deal went to industrialist Anil Ambani. “Modi has stolen Rs 30,000 crore from the nation and put it in Anil Ambani’s pocket,” Rahul has said on numerous occasions in the past few months.
The contempt case against the Congress president is listed for hearing on Tuesday.