New Delhi: The Congress president Rahul Gandhi will have to apologise through a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court for wrongly attributing the "Chowkidar chor hai" remark to the highest court of the land. Rahul’s lawyer told the same to the judges on Tuesday. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had objected his earlier affidavit expressing 'regret', saying it does not have an unconditional apology. The point raised by the BJP was that regret and apology is two different things.

"I have checked the dictionary, regret means (an) P apology. (But) I will say (an) apology," Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented the Congress president told the court.

Singhvi after facing an unrelenting court that came down slowly said it was his mistake that the affidavit did not contain the word "apology". He further assured the court that a fresh one would be filed.

"We heard all. After an extensive hearing, Singhvi wants to file an additional affidavit. It is open for the respondent to file the affidavit. The acceptance of any such affidavit will be considered on Monday," said the judges.

The hearing comes at a very crucial stage when the ongoing general election is at its peak season. Four phases of the poll have passed, and three are yet to go. Purely from the point of view of perception, this ongoing court battle where the Congress president is regularly facing the heat may prove costly for the Congress. Tuesday's SC rap also comes just a day after the MHA issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi to make his position clear on the question of his citizenship.