SC to hear Rafale deal review petition with Rahul Gandhi's contempt petition

Supreme Court to hear review petition in the Rafale deal case on Tuesday along with Rahul Gandhi's petition to dismiss a criminal contempt petition filed against him by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi over his ‘chowkidar chor hai’ remark attributed to the Apex court of the country on the Rafale fighter jets deal concluded by the Modi government. The Centre on Monday sought time to file more documents but a bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi rejected the request.

Delhi: The Supreme Court will be hearing the review petition in the Rafale deal case on Tuesday along with Rahul Gandhi's petition to dismiss a criminal contempt petition filed against him by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi over his ‘chowkidar chor hai’ remark attributed to the Apex court of the country on the Rafale fighter jets deal concluded by the Modi government.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi in his counter-affidavit in response to the notice issued by the Supreme Court of India says that the remark was used by him "in a rhetoric flourish in the heat of the moment."

The Centre on Monday had asked the Supreme Court to defer the hearing, as it said it needed more time to file a fresh affidavit concerning the merits of the review petitions. The Supreme Court, however, did not pass an order on the Centre’s request.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, allowed the Centre’s counsel to circulate a letter for an adjournment in Tuesday’s hearing among all the parties in the case, including the petitioners who filed the review pleas.

The Centre has said in the letter that the government has raised certain preliminary objections on maintainability of certain documents relied upon in the review petitions and the court had decided the issue on April 10.

The review petitions filed by former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan is listed for hearing before a bench headed by the Chief Justice on Tuesday in the post-lunch session.

Two other review petitions filed by Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh and advocate Vineet Dhanda are also listed for hearing on Tuesday.

On April 10, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the Centre’s objections to the review petitions seeking an inquiry into the Rafale fighter jet deal. In March, the government had asked for the review pleas to be dismissed, claiming they were based on “secret files” accessed from the Defence Ministry.

The Congress and other Opposition parties have consistently alleged corruption in the Rafale deal sealed by the Narendra Modi government. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has brought up the matter multiple times, including in recent rallies ahead of the upcoming elections. He has called the deal a “blatant case of corruption”.