New Delhi, Apr 15 : The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Indian National Congress president Rahul Gandhi on a contempt petition filed against him by the Bharatiya Janata Party MP, Meenakshi Lekhi, for his alleged comment on the Rafale controversy, denigrating Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, sought a detailed reply from Mr Gandhi on his alleged comments.
Ms Lekhi had filed a petition in the apex court after the Congress president allegedly made derogatory remarks against Mr Modi at a recent rally.
The bench asked Mr Gandhi to file his detailed reply by April 22 and set further hearing for the following day.
SC disputes Raga claim of moral victory
Mr Gandhi had allegedly claimed a moral victory and said the apex court had made it clear that the PM “committed theft” in the big ticket fighter jet deal with France.
The Supreme Court had ruled that the leaked Rafale documents could be relied upon to review a previous judgment
Ms Lekhi then had moved the apex court seeking initiation of contempt against Rahul Gandhi.
She also stated that action should be initiated against him for levelling unsubstantiated charges against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal.
Setback to Rahul
The apex court’s issuance of notice to Mr Gandhi is seen as a big setback for him, in the midst of Lok Sabha elections.
Directing Mr Gandhi to explain his statement ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ attributed to the Supreme Court, the CJI-led bench made it clear that it had no occasion to make such kind of observation, it had only decided on the legal question of admissibility of documents.
