india

Updated: Nov 16, 2019 13:18 IST

The Maharashtra unit of the BJP held a protest in Mumbai on Saturday demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi after the Supreme Court dismissed Rafale review petitions.

The protest was led by state BJP by state chief Chandrakant Patil outside the BJP office in Dadar. The party’s newly elected legislators demand a public apology from Congress’ former president Rahul Gandhi.

“The apex court made it clear that there was no corruption in the Rafale deal. The verdict has exposed Gandhi, who maligned the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image and that of the country. He must apologise to the nation,” Patil said.

The protest cam on the concluding day of the BJP’s three-day state executive meeting in Mumbai.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court refused to change its December 2018 verdict that dismissed pleas seeking a court-monitored probe of alleged irregularities in the Rs 59,000-crore Rafale fighter jet deal with France’s Dassault Aviation.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, SK Kaul and KM Joseph dismissed a batch of petitions seeking a review of its earlier order.

“We cannot lose sight of the fact we are dealing with contract pending with government for long. Prayer made by petitioner was for registration of FIR and CBI enquiry...this is not a fresh examination as they were considered earlier on merit,” the bench said.

But Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had remained unfazed and tweeted that the top court’s judgment has opened “huge door” for probe into the deal.

“Justice Joseph of the Supreme Court has opened a huge door into investigation of the RAFALE scam. An investigation must now begin in full earnest. A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) must also be set up to probe this scam,” Gandhi tweeted.

Though he concurred with the ruling of the other two judges in the SC bench, Justice KM Joseph authored his own view saying probe agencies can go ahead and investigate the matter on their own.