Rahul Gandhi files affidavit in SC, denies allegations

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has denied in the Supreme Court allegations that he had kept a girl and her parents in illegal confinement in Madhya Pradesh.

In a counter-affidavit filed in the apex court, Rahul submitted that the allegations made against him were "totally false, frivolous, vexatious and are calculated to harm my image."

"It is respectfully submitted that a serious view should be taken of such allegations," the affidavit stated.

The apex court on April 6, last year had issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi, the Uttar Pradesh government and four others on a petition filed by a former member of legislative assembly, challenging the Rs 50 lakh fine imposed on him by the Allahabad high court in a case of alleged sexual exploitation.

A bench of justices V S Sirpurkar (since retired) and T S Thakur, while staying the high court order, which had also directed a Central Bureau of Investigation's probe against the former legislator, asked the respondents to file their replies within four weeks.

The aggrieved former Samajwadi Party MLA from Madhya Pradesh -- Kishore Samrite --had challenged the high court order, alleging that it was illegal and arbitrary and issued without application of mind. He wanted the fine to be waived.