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Bench seeks details in a sealed envelope by October 29
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to submit details of the decision-making process in the Rafale deal with France in a sealed envelope by October 29. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, clarified that it was not asking for information on the price of the fighter jets and technical particulars.
Issue of pricing
“We are not on the issue of pricing and suitability of the Rafale jets but only on the decision-making process,” the Bench, also comprising Justices S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph, said. The Supreme Court, which was hearing various petitions seeking an investigation into the controversial fighter jet deal, also said that it was not issuing any formal notice to the Centre. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal opposed the petitions, saying that they were politically motivated and should be dismissed. Mr. Venugopal stressed that the details of the deal cannot be shown to anybody in the interest of national security and other issues related to the defence procurement process.
Twin-engine plane
Rafale is a twin-engine medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by Dassault Aviation, a French firm. Advocate M.L. Sharma, one of the petitioners, has sought a stay on the deal. Terming it as an “outcome of corruption”, Mr. Sharma called for quashing of the deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets. Another petitioner Vineet Dhanda, also a lawyer, expressed satisfaction at the Supreme Court’s order. “In a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) petition, my role is to bring an issue to the notice of the court. The court has perhaps also taken note of my plea regarding submission of documents in a sealed envelope. After it goes through the documents, I am sure, the truth will come out,” Mr. Dhanda said.
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/how-was-the-decision-to-buy-rafale-made-sc-asks-centre/article25185687.ece
