Right to free speech not right to falsehood: Arun Jaitley on Rahul for 'misquoting' SC

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Monday accused Congress President Rahul Gandhi of manufacturing Supreme Court order on Rafale deal for political propaganda and said 'right to free speech' is not 'right to falsehood'.

The minister was commenting on the Supreme Court order which said that the remarks made by Gandhi on its April 10 Rafale case verdict were "incorrectly attributed" to the apex court and directed the Congress President to give his explanation by April 22.

In a series of tweets, Jaitley said, "In Rahul Gandhi's politics, the Right to Free Speech includes the Right to Falsehood".

He further said dynasts are also subject to the Supreme Court and while truth holds together, falsehood falls apart.

"Indian democracy does not permit them (dynasts) to rewrite Court orders... To manufacture a Court order for a political propaganda is a new low for Rahul Gandhi. The lower he sinks, the higher we rise," Jaitley said.

BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi



in her plea before the Supreme Court alleged that Gandhi has attributed his personal remarks to the top court and tried to create prejudice.

The Congress president on April 10 claimed that the apex court has made it "clear" that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "committed a theft".

The Supreme Court on April 10 allowed the plea of petitioners relying on leaked documents for seeking review of its Rafale judgement and dismissed the government's preliminary objections claiming "privilege" over them.

"I am happy and I have been saying so for months that Hindustan's PM has given the air force money to (industrialist) Anil Ambani, and the SC has accepted it. The SC is going to investigate it," Gandhi had said.

"I want to thank the SC. It's a very happy day. The SC has talked about justice. Justice has prevailed," he had added.

The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.