New Delhi, April 22: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday apologised for attributing ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ phrase against PM Narendra Modi to the Supreme Court’s Rafale Deal verdict. In response to the apex court's notice, Gandhi filed an affidavit in which he regretted his remarks. The Congress president said that the comment was made in the heat of campaigning.

The top court issued a notice to the Congress president for using the controversial phrase against PM Modi in connection with the December 14 Rafale deal verdict. The plea was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Meenakshi Lekhi seeking contempt action against the Congress president on April 12. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi had asked Rahul Gandhi to file a response within seven days.

In the plea, Lekhi said that Gandhi misquoted apex court’s December 14 ruling on the deal. Mukul Rohatgi, representing Lekhi in the top court had said that Gandhi made a remark saying, "Supreme Court has said, chowkidaar chor hai" in the verdict. Last year on December 14, the top court had dismissed all petitions seeking a probe into the pricing of multi-million dollar Rafale fighter jets deal. A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, said there was "nothing questionable" in the decision-making process for the Rafale deal.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 22, 2019 12:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).