Petitioners in the Rafale deal case on Wednesday told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the government had committed a ‘serious fraud’ in the purchase of the 36 jets from France. “The documents given to me say negotiations started in May 2015 whereas the PM had declared in April that the deal is done,” ML Sharma, one of the petitioners in this case said as the Supreme Court began its hearing on the Centre’s report on pricing details.
Sharma added that the Attorney General must give a detailed reply to his petition as he had not been given the complete papers.
Another petitioner Vineet dhanda wanted to know how the Prime Minister could make a statement even before the approval of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP, also a petitioner, countering government’s claim of secrecy said, “the government of India has disclosed the price not once but twice on the floor of Parliament. Questioning the decision-making process he asked how could the government announce a new deal without cancelling the old deal.
The government had resisted attempts by the court asking for price details of the jets. Attorney general of India KK Venugopal even went to the extent of telling the court that the pricing details are protected under the Official Secrets Act, 1923. So far, the government has only shared price details of the basic model of Rs 670 crore with the Rajya Sabha.
The petitions have been filed by lawyers Vineet Dhanda and ML Sharma. Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh has also moved the top court against the Rafale deal; Sanjay Singh has sought a court order for the formation of a special team to probe the matter under the Supreme Court’s oversight.
Documents given by the government are silent on whether appropriate steps were taken before the deal was finalised, Singh to SC.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s decision to enter a $8.7-billion government-to-government deal with France to buy 36 Rafale warplanes made by Dassault was announced in April 2015, with an agreement signed a little over a year later.
This replaced the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime decision to buy 126 Rafale aircraft, 108 of which were to be made in India by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
The deal has become controversial with the Opposition, led by the Congress, claiming that the price at which India is buying Rafale aircraft now is Rs 1,670 crore each, three times the Rs 526 crore, the initial bid by the company when the UPA was trying to buy the aircraft. It has also claimed the previous deal included a technology transfer agreement with HAL.
The UPA deal, struck in 2012, was not a viable one, former defence minister Manohar Parrikar had previously said. The NDA has said the current deal also includes customised weaponry.
The deal has also become controversial on account of a partnership between Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence and Dassault for a joint venture that will tap some of the offset opportunity related to the deal.
First Published: Nov 14, 2018 09:07 IST
Source: HindustanTimes