Contempt case: SC lets off Rahul Gandhi, asks him to be careful in future

Taking into account the unconditional apology tendered by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Thursday (November 14) closed the contempt plea against him for wrongly attributing to the apex court his “chowkidar chor hai” remark in the Rafale case against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The court said the remarks made by Gandhi were far from true and he should have refrained from those and could have been careful.

“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 SK Kaul and KM Joseph said.

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

The bench noted that subsequently the contemnor has filed an affidavit that contempt proceedings should not be taken forward. “In view of the affidavit filed by Gandhi, we close contempt proceedings initiated against him,” the bench said.

(With inputs from agencies)