Rahul Gandhi booked for chowkidar chor hai remark

NEW DELHI, Apr 27
A case has been registered against Congress president Rahul Gandhi for repeatedly asking the crowd to chant ‘chowkidar chor hai’ at a rally in Samastipur, Bihar. The case has been registered in Ara Civil Court against Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav who was also present at the rally, news agency ANI reported.
The Congress chief has been using ‘chowkidar chor hai’ slogan for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for alleged irregularities in the Rafale fighter jet deal under his watch. Gandhi alleges that PM Modi signed the deal at a price much higher than what was negotiated under the previous Congress Government. He also suggests that the Prime Minister favoured certain businessperson in the deal.
However, the CAG in its audit report did not find any irregularity in the Government-to-Government deal between India and France. The Supreme Court, too, had not found any compelling material to order a probe into fighter jet deal. The apex court had also rejected all the petitions seeking investigations into the deal.
Earlier, the apex court agreed to hear a review petition on the Rafale verdict after some fresh documents surfaced in the media. Following the court’s decision, Rahul Gandhi, while wrongly attributing to the apex court, had said that the highest court had accepted that ‘Chowkidaar hi chor hai’ (The watchman is indeed a thief).
Following this, BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi moved the court which asked the Congress scion to explain before the court those remarks.
Gandhi later regretted the statement saying he attributed the apex court in the heat of the political campaign. The court issued a contempt notice against Rahul Gandhi and posted the matter for April 30.
Meanwhile, a Patna Court has also summoned the Congress President to appear before it on May 20 in connection with a defamation suit against him by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Sushil Modi. Financial Express