Chowkidar chor hai: SC closes contempt plea against Rahul Gandhi
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi framed his campaigning for 2019 Lok Sabha polls on "Chowkidar Chor Hai", but results showed it failed to connect with masses. If anything, the phrase brought him embarrassment as Supreme Court pulled him up for wrongly attributing the remark to them. However, on Thursday, SC shut the contempt plea against him and asked him to "be more careful".
Context: During electioneering, Rahul made controversial remarks
At the height of electioneering, Rahul used the remark to slam Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal. Separately, SC had rejected the Center's objections to the use of "secret" documents stolen from the Defense Ministry.. Using the same observation, Rahul at a rally on April 10, said even SC agreed that "Chowkidar Chor Hai". But the catch is, SC never made the remarks.
Lekhi filed a case, SC asked Rahul to reply
Subsequently, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi filed a contempt plea against him. CJI Ranjan Gogoi-led bench agreed with Lekhi and reminded Rahul the court never made the remarks. A reply was also sought from the Wayanad parliamentarian and he said, he made the comments in "political heat". Later, Rahul tendered an unconditional apology and said he didn't want to drag the court in politics.
Didn't want to drag court into political arena: Rahul
"Did not have the slightest or remotest intention, desire or even thought process, to bring the court into the political arena or bring it into disrepute or attribute to it deliberately or willfully that which the court had not said or meant," he said.
"SC shouldn't be dragged in political spectrum"
Further, Rahul also said he came to know about SC's verdict through social media, so his first conclusion was that the court agreed with him. Reacting on his reply, SC had said, "Rahul enjoys an important position in the political spectrum and no court should be dragged to political discourse, whether valid or invalid." Later, SC reserved its judgment on the contempt plea.
