Advocate Vineet Jindal seeks criminal contempt charges against Rahul Gandhi for remarks on judiciary

Advocate Vineet Jindal has written a letter to the Attorney General (AG), KK Venugopal and requested him to give his consent to initiate criminal contempt of court proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for allegedly speaking against the Indian judiciary and disgracing its dignity.

"This country has a legal system where one had 100 per cent independence in voicing his/her opinion. It is very clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is inserting its people in all these institutions/systems. It is very obvious! They are taking away the institutional framework of this country," Jindal quoted an excerpt of Rahul Gandhi's recent interview in the letter.

Jindal has requested the AG Venugopal and sought his consent to initiate contempt proceedings against Rahul Gandhi.

"A democracy requires a judiciary, which is independent, a press that is independent, a legislature that is independent in its workings," Jindal wrote in his letter to the AG.

"Rahul Gandhi had said that the 'ruling party in central government inserted its people into the judiciary and is scandalising the judicial system of our country. Rahul Gandhi has disrespected the Indian Judiciary and I seek AG Venugopal's permission to initiate contempt of court proceedings against him," read the letter.

"Gandhi had said that the Indian Judicial system is working for BJP and the Judicial system is not working independently. It is important to mention here that Gandhi in the past also had wrongly attributed to the apex court, in his "Chowkidar chor hai" remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the Rafale case wherein Supreme Court had initiated and then closed contempt proceedings asking him to be careful in future," read the letter.

"Rahul Gandhi, however, had in his recent remark, with intent to disgrace and scandalise the entire Indian Judiciary along with other institutions, showed that he had not taken care of the warning issued by the apex court of this country," Jindal said in the letter.

"We all know about ongoing elections campaign in some states of India and Gandhi just to take advantage over the ruling party (BJP) in the Centre, by voicing such disgraceful and scandalising comments against the Indian Judiciary, including Supreme Court," Jindal wrote in his letter.

"Rahul Gandhi has thereby allegedly committed contempt of court and he should be prosecuted under the category of section 15 of contempt of courts Act 1971 read with rule 3 (c) of contempt proceedings of Supreme court 1975," Jindal wrote in his letter addressed to the AG, Venugopal.

( With inputs from ANI )