The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi for dragging the apex court into his 'chowkidar chor hai' campaign against PM Narendra Modi. The Supreme Court has asked Rahul Gandhi to submit his response by Monday BJP had filed a petition after Rahul Gandhi hit out at PM Modi at a rally with chowkidar chor hai remark The next hearing is on April 23 The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Congress president Rahul Gandhi in connection with a contempt petition filed against him by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the Rafale controversy and has also asked him to explain his 'chowkidar chor hai' remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he attributed to the court. The BJP had filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Friday after the Congress president hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally with 'chowkidar chor hai' remark. After the Supreme Court announced its decision to allow leaked Rafale documents to review a previous judgment, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had claimed a moral victory and said the court has made it clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "committed theft". The SC bench led by the Chief justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi issued a clarification that it had not made any remarks regarding the Prime Minister's role in the Rafale deal. "You are right.. we never said this.. we will clarify this..." observed CJI Ranjan Gogoi in open court on Monday. The remark was made as senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi started arguments on the contempt case filed on behalf of BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi. "We make it clear that this Court had no occasion to record any view or finding or make any observation as allegedly attributed to the Court by the respondent in a smuch as what was decided by this Court was a purely legal question of admissibility of certain documents to which objections were raised by the learned Attorney General..." said the Court in its written order passed on Monday. BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi had filed the criminal contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Rahul Gandhi and pleaded that the Congress president had deliberately misinterpreted the court’s April 10 order which allowed "leaked" Defence ministry documents to be taken on record. "He is representing his personal statements as a Supreme court order and is trying to create a prejudicial image in the minds of the public," said Meenakshi Lekhi. The bench has now asked Rahul Gandhi to give "an explanation" for his statement. " 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 court has said. Even as a political war of words broke out between the BJP and Congress over the "chowkidaar chor hai" remark and the contempt case, the SC in its order has also asked that the court proceedings should be kept out of politics. "We further observe that no views, observations or findings should be attributed to the Court in a political address to the media and in public speeches, unless such views, observations or findings are recorded by the Court..." observed the bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna. Speaking to the media after the Rafale review case order on April 10, Rahul Gandhi had said: "The SC has made it clear that chowkidarji was involved in the theft." In his speech, Rahul Gandhi had expressed "happiness" that the Apex court had "accepted the guilt of the Prime minister." On April 10, the apex court had passed an interim order on the review petitions filed in the Rafale case and had held that the "leaked" Ministry of defence (MoD) documents coud be taken on record and could be examined by the court. A BJP delegation, including defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, also approached the Election Commission demanding action against Rahul Gandhi over his remark against Modi on Rafale deal. The BJP delegation had urged the EC to take cognisance of Rahul’s abusive remarks against the Prime Minister and initiate action. The Congress president is using abusive words against the Prime Minister that are untrue. He is repeatedly calling the Prime Minister a chor’ by putting words in the mouth of the Supreme Court, Sitharaman said. Meanwhile, other BJP leader also stepped in attacking Congress president over the Rafale issue. Finance minister Arun Jaitley in a series of tweets accused Rahul Gandhi of "rewriting the court order." Arun Jaitley also alleged that "In Rahul Gandhi’s politics, the right to free speech includes the right to falsehood..." Indian democracy does not permit them (dynasts) to rewrite Court orders... To manufacture a Court order for political propaganda is a new low for Rahul Gandhi. The lower he sinks, the higher we rise, Jaitley said. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a press conference called for the Election Commission of India to "take cognizance" of the "false statements," being made and take action against Gandhi for "violating Poll code." " To not make false accusations with the intention to vilify and not use names of constitutional bodies for political campaign are conditions of the MCC. To wrongfully quote Supreme Court and modify its statements is a violation of the poll code," said Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Supreme Court has asked Rahul Gandhi to submit his response by Monday (April 22). The next hearing is on April 23.