New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court Wednesday, tendering an “unconditional apology” for his ‘chowkidar chor hai’ jibe wrongly attributed to the top court.
On 10 April, immediately after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a review plea in the Rafale case, Gandhi had said that the top court used the ‘chowkidar chor hai’ jibe for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“…Any such attributions were entirely unintentional, non-willful and inadvertent,” the Congress chief said Wednesday.
In his three-page response, the Congress chief submitted that “he holds this Hon’ble Court in the highest esteem and respect”, and never “sought or intended to, directly or indirectly, commit any act that interferes with the process of administration of justice”.
Gandhi’s response comes on a plea filed by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi who sought action for contempt after the Congress chief’s comments.
Also read: Like Rahul Gandhi, British in India viewed chowkidars as ‘chors’ too
Third time lucky
The Wednesday affidavit is Gandhi’s third in this matter. In his previous responses, Gandhi had expressed regret and admitted that his statement where he suggested that the Supreme Court said ‘chowkidar chor hai’ was made in the “heat of political campaigning”.
While not explicitly apologising for his remarks, Gandhi had said last week, “It (his statement) 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!
“…it is clear and obvious that no court, much less the Apex Court, would adopt, endorse or uphold a political slogan like the above,” Gandhi had said in his response.
The Congress chief had also said that he didn’t intend to bring the top court into the “political arena”.
Gandhi has been leading a campaign against the Modi government, accusing it of corruption in the Rafale defence deal. He has alleged favour on the government’s part towards industrialist Anil Ambani, coining the jibe ‘chowkidar chor hai’ in the process.
Also read: What Rahul Gandhi told the Supreme Court in his plea over his Rafale remarks