Union minister Smriti Irani on Monday attacked Rahul Gandhi, saying that the Congress chief has accepted that he is a liar. Smriti Irani’s tweet came after Rahul Gandhi apologised for attributing the “chowkidar chor hai” jibe to the Supreme Court after its Rafale judgment earlier this month. Expressing regret over wrongly attributing the jibe to the Supreme Court, Rahul Gandhi said that he had made the statement in the heat of political campaigning which has been misused by his opponents. He said he had no intention to lower the dignity of the apex court. Rahul Gandhi contended that he and his party’s stand is “chowkidar chor hai”. After Rahul Gandhi apologised to the Supreme Court, Smriti Irani tweeted: “Rahul Gandhi, who called the Chowkidar [Narendra Modi] a chor [thief], has accepted that he himself is a liar. The public would not forgive you for insulting the prime minister and the Supreme Court.” The Supreme Court on April 15 had given a categorical clarification that in its Rafale judgment there was no occasion for it to make a mention of the contemptuous observation that “chowkidar Narendra Modi chor hain” as has been attributed to it by Gandhi. The court had directed Gandhi to give his explanation on April 22 on a petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Meenakshi Lekhi seeking criminal contempt action against him for his remarks. In her plea, Lekhi, the Lok Sabha MP from New Delhi constituency, has alleged that Gandhi has attributed his personal remarks to the top court and tried to create prejudice.
