Published 01:52 IST, November 15th 2019
Sambit Patra on Rafale verdict: 'India has won, anti-India forces have lost'
After the Supreme Court dismissed the review petitions in the Rafale case, BJP's MP Sambit Patra called it a victory of India and the defeat of anti-India force
After the Supreme Court dismissed the review petitions in the Rafale case against its December 14, 2018 judgment, BJP spokesperson and MP Sambit Patra called it a victory of India and the defeat of the anti-India forces. Patra took to Twitter to express his opinion on the Rafale verdict announced by Supreme Court on November 14.
Shortly after the Supreme Court bench dismissed the Rafale review petitions, saying it felt it inappropriate to wade into a 'roving and fishing inquiry', the Supreme Court let off Rahul Gandhi with a warning to be 'more careful' while passing such remarks in the future. Justice Kaul said that it was unfortunate that the contemnor had made such remarks and that he, while holding such an important position, should have been more careful. Justice Kaul observed that no court should be dragged into any political discourse.
Following this, citing the affidavit filed by Rahul Gandhi in which he had apologised, the 3-judge bench in a concurring judgment said that it would not like to continue with the contempt proceedings further.
The contempt case:
Rahul Gandhi, while dragging the Apex court into the political fight with the BJP, had in April said that despite PM Modi mentioning in an interview that he has been given a clean chit by the court, the Supreme Court had made it clear that the 'Chowkidar' is involved in the theft. He further said that the Supreme Court had accepted that there is corruption in the entire Rafale issue. Following Gandhi's statement, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi had accused him of misquoting an order of the top court. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi said that the apex court had accepted that ‘chowkidar’ is a ‘chor’.
In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ was often used by the Congress to imply that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is involved in wrongdoing with reference to the Rafale deal, in response to which the BJP had begun the 'Main Bhi Chowkidaar' campaign. After the Supreme Court issued a contempt notice against Rahul Gandhi, the latter tendered an apology seeking closure of the proceedings, holding that the remarks were made in the heat of political campaigning. However, Lekhi urged for initiating action against the former Congress president as the apology was not ‘unconditional’.
Updated 03:53 IST, November 15th 2019