Given the Supreme Court of India (SC) was not convinced by his earlier response on the contempt plea filed against him, the Congress party president Rahul Gandhi on Monday (29 April) re-filed an affidavit expressing regret for having attributed his slogan 'chowkidar chor hai' to the SC's 10 April judgement on Rafale review petition, reports Times of India.

Even though Gandhi expressed regret in his affidavit, he avoided the usage of word 'apology' while responding to the Meenakshi Lekhi’s contempt petition which sought initiation of the contempt proceedings against him for distorting the SC's order as a finding that PM Modi had indulged in corruption in the Rafale deal.

In the 110 page long affidavit filed by advocate Sunil Fernandes, Gandhi underscored that he had made the mistake "in a rhetorical flourish in the heat of the moment" and also blamed "electronic and social media reportage and the version of workers and activists surrounding him" for the incorrect attribution.

Meanwhile, Meenakshi Lekhi said that Rahul, as per his own admission was well aware that no court would make a comment akin to his political jibe and yet has refused to apologise. Citing his reluctance to apologise to the court, Meenakshi said, he should face contempt of court charges.

The Congress chief had earlier also filed a response in the court in the same matter, in which too, he had expressed regret for attributing the political slogan to the apex court. The SC will hear the Rafale review petition and the contempt plea against Gandhi today (30 April).