BJP leader Meenkashi Lekhi, who had filed criminal contempt petition against Rahul Gandhi in the Supreme Court, said on Thursday that the three affidavits filed by him in connection with the "chowkidar chor hai" remark was an attempt by the Congress to "obfuscate the truth".
The BJP stand on India's Rafale fighter jet deal with France was vindicated by the Supreme Court, which also warned people like Gandhi in public life, who aspire to be Prime Minister, to be careful, Lekhi said.
"The observations in the judgement on Thursday warned people in public life to be careful. Imagine a person who wants to be a Prime Minister does not know that the public institutions should be respected. Public institutions and constitutional bodies need to be respected," Lekhi, who is Lok Sabha MP from New Delhi constituency, told PTI after the verdict.
After the apex court gave clean chit to the Modi government by dismissing the review petitions against the December 14, 2018 verdict and closing the contempt plea against Gandhi, she said, "Our stand has been vindicated by the Supreme Court order."
The BJP MP drew attention to the observations made in the judgement on her contempt petition and said, "If you look at the three phased manner in which everything transpired, Congress tried to obfuscate the truth."
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Jospeh, which closed the contempt case against Gandhi, said it was "unfortunate" that the former Congress president without verifying attributed his "chowkidar chor hai" remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the Rafale case to the apex court.
Lekhi said Gandhi and his party first cried that Rafale was not a fair deal and then started uttering that "chowkidar chor hai".
However, she said, these statements against Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not gain attraction in public in the background of the AgustaWestland scandal, so he compounded the offence by repeatedly using Supreme Court's credibility by spreading the lies that the apex court has made the remarks.
Gandhi's remark had come when the Supreme Court on April 10 had only decided the procedural aspect related to the matter, she said.
"The apology that came in three installments reminds me that when I was young we watched a hilarious show, Bakra Kisto Mein, and now it is apology by Gandhi which is in kisto main," Lekhi said.
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