Observations not “recorded by court” should not be attributed to court in speeches/ political address, SC

The Supreme Court yesterday made it clear that no views, observations or findings should be attributed to the Court in political addresses to the media and in public speeches, unless such views, observations or findings are recorded by the Court..This was made clear by a Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna in the contempt petition filed against Rahul Gandhi by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi..The order passed in this regard by the Court notes:.“We further observe that no views, observations or findings should be attributed to the Court in political address to the media and in public speeches, unless such views, observations or findings are recorded by the Court.”.This clarification forms part of the order by which Rahul Gandhi has been called upon to explain his statement, “Sarvoch Nyayalay ne kaha hai, Chowkidar chor hai”. (The Supreme Court has said that the ‘Chowkidar’ is a thief), allegedly made by him..Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Meenakshi Lekhi had moved a contempt petition against Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent judgment concerning maintainability in the Rafale review case..The contempt petition is based on Rahul Gandhi’s alleged statement that the Supreme Court has said “Chowkidar Chor hai” in relation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the preliminary objections raised by the Centre were rejected by the Supreme Court..While the Court has not issued any formal notice to Rahul Gandhi in the matter, it has asked Gandhi for his explanation which can be given by way of an affidavit..“Having clarified the matter, we deem it proper to ask the respondent for his explanation which will be laid before us on or before 22.04.2019..The petitioner will be at liberty to file an additional affidavit.”.Read the order below. .Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.