India Supreme court gives clean chit to Modi govt in Rafale deal, closes contempt plea against Rahul Gandhi
Supreme Court also disposes off the contempt plea against Rahul Gandhi with a warning
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday gave a clean chit to the Narendra Modi government in the Rafale fighter jets deal case, saying review petitions were without merit.
The court rejected pleas which had sought re-examination of the December 14, 2018 verdict which said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets.
The apex court rejected the contention that there was need for registration of FIR in connection with the deal.
"We find the review petitions are without any merit," a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said.
The bench also comprised Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph.
SC closes contempt plea against Rahul Gandhi
The Supreme Court on Thursday closed the contempt petition filed by BJP lawmaker Meenakshi Lekhi against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for wrongly attributing to the court, his "chowkidar chor hai" slogan against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rafale case.
"Rahul Gandhi needs to be more careful in future," a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said in their verdict.
Lekhi had accused Gandhi of misquoting the April 10 order of the apex court in which it had allowed additional leaked documents to be put on record as evidence in the Rafale case.
Gandhi, who was then the president of the Congress party, allegedly said that the apex court had accepted that 'chowkidar' (a reference to Prime Minister Modi), is a "chor' (thief).
Pursuant to this, the Supreme Court issued a contempt notice against him. Chief Justice Gogoi was categorical that Gandhi had to either offer a clear-cut apology or face criminal contempt.
Subsequently, Gandhi tendered an unconditional apology to the top court and sought closure of the contempt proceedings against him.
During the course of proceedings, former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Lekhi, had argued that Gandhi's apology should be rejected and action must be taken against him.
"He (Gandhi) has only expressed regret. The law is clear in contempt cases that the line starts with an unconditional apology," he had submitted before the court.