Fearing Criminal Contempt Action, Rahul Gandhi Unconditionally Apologises For ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ To SC

In a major embarrassment to him, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has tendered an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court today (8 May) for lying that an apex court order in Rafale review had endorsed his political slogan Chowkidar Chor Hai against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A couple of days ahead of the scheduled Friday hearing, Rahul Gandhi filed an affidavit today (8 May) through his advocate Sunil Fernandes tendering an unconditional apology to the court.

Rahul Gandhi said that “The Deponent unconditionally apologises for the wrongful attributions to this Hon’ble Court. The Deponent further states that any such attributions were entirely unintentional, non-willful and inadvertent.“

Rahul Gandhi also pleaded to the SC to close the contempt proceedings initiated on the basis of a petition filed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi.

On 30 April, Supreme Court categorically asserted that Rahul Gandhi has to either offer a clear-cut apology or brave criminal contempt for attributing ‘chowkidar chor hai targeting’ PM Narendra Modi to the court.

“Any person can make a mistake, but having made it, you should go ahead and admit it,” Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on the Bench told senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Rahul Gandhi.

The Bench had also observed that it could not decipher what Rahul Gandhi wanted to convey in his earlier 28-page affidavit, which expressed "regret" without apologising.

Rahul Gandhi’s affidavit dated 29 April, was in response to a notice issued by the court on 23 April in a criminal contempt petition filed by BJP member of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi against him.