Rafale Deal: Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie Move SC Seeking Review

Former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and advocate Prashant Bhushan Wednesday, 2 January moved the Supreme Court, seeking review of its December 14 verdict dismissing all PILs alleging irregularities in the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from France.

In their review plea, they alleged that the judgment "relied upon patently incorrect claims made by the government in an unsigned note given in a sealed cover" to the apex court.

They have also sought that the plea be heard in an open court.

Read the full verdict here.

As the BJP stepped up attack on Rahul Gandhi over the Rafale issue, three members of the ruling party in the Lok Sabha moved a notice of breach of privilege against the Congress president, alleging that he spoke "falsehood" and "misled the House" over the fighter aircraft deal in his speech during a debate in July.

BJP MPs Anurag Thakur, Nishikant Dubey and Sanjay Jaiswal have sought action against Gandhi over his speech during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government in Parliament's Monsoon Session.

The PAC might not summon attorney general and the CAG over the public auditor's report on Rafale deal, as a majority of the members, including those from opposition parties, are not in favour of the proposal by panel chairman Mallikarjun Kharge.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had Friday claimed the Supreme Court in its verdict cited a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the deal that was submitted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), but he asserted that no such report was given to the House panel headed by Kharge.

Ruling out referring the Rafale deal to a parliamentary panel, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Sunday launched a blistering attack on the Congress, calling it "bad losers" and said the CAG's view of the deal is not relevant after the Supreme Court's clean chit.

With the first four days of winter session of Parliament washed out over various protests, Jaitley said the opposition Congress will prefer disruptions over discussion on Rafale during the remainder of the session.

The Congress, which was not a petitioner before the apex court, wants the Rafale deal to be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to go into the price arrived at by the BJP government versus the one negotiated by the previous UPA regime, as also how billionaire Anil Ambani's group with virtually no experience in manufacture of fighter jets was selected as an offset partner for the deal.

"After the Supreme Court has spoken the last word, it gets legitimacy. A political body can never come to a finding contrary to what the Court has said," Jaitley wrote in a Facebook blog, titled 'Rafale - Lies, Shortlived lies and now further lies?'.

Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma addressed a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. The Congress leadership touched upon the issue of the recent SC verdict on the Rafale row. Sharma said that it is unfortunate that the prime minister and his government are trying to avoid investigation.

RJD MP Manoj Jha will be moving the Privilege Motion against the Attorney General in the Rajya Sabha over the Rafale deal, ANI reported.

“It’s clear now that government gave factually incorrect information to Supreme Court and it delivered its verdict based on it. It should've gone to parliament but went to judiciary instead; it's a breach of constitutional institutions. Only Attorney General can answer, he should be summoned by Parliament,” Jha said.

The BJP has said that it will hold Press Conferences at 70 different locations across the country on Monday, 17 December, to "expose Congress for plotting conspiracy against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government and messing with country's defence,” ANI reported.

Speaking to ANI, Subramanian Swamy said that if Attorney General KK Venugopal has claimed that if the affidavit regarding the pricing details of the Rafale Deal wasn’t filed by him, then the Prime Minister should “find it out because it embarrasses him”.

He also said that if the judges hearing the case had based their judgement on the affidavit, then it could “hamper justice”.

The Congress alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre had misled the Supreme Court over the Rafale deal and committed contempt of court and perjury.

Speaking to the media, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the basis of the court ruling was a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which has not been seen by anyone, nor has it been shared with Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The apex court said it was ill-equipped to conduct judicial review of issues related to pricing, and this has been the Congress' stand. Hence, the party is demanding a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), he said.

“The BJP has hoodwinked the nation and cheated the people. Now it has the guts to do the same to mislead the apex court. There is serious misrepresentation of vital, significant facts to the apex court. This amounts to contempt (of court), (breach of) privilege as well as perjury,” he claimed.

‘Modi’ now stands for 'Misleading Of Democratic Institutions', he quipped.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday, 15 December, took a dig at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for saying that the NDA government got the Rafale aircraft deal at a cheaper price, questioning if it was so, why did it not buy seven squadrons instead of two.

In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said Jaitley has been maintaining that in the Rafale deal, negotiated by the NDA government, the price of the aircraft was cheaper by 9 percent or 20 percent.

The former finance and home minister said the Indian Air Force has been maintaining that its fighter aircraft strength is depleted and it needs at least 7 squadrons (126 aircraft).

Indian Youth Congress workers march towards India Gate demanding the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the Rafale deal.

Government has filed an application in the apex court which claims that the court ‘misinterpreted’ the information provided by the government to the court in a sealed cover on 12 November.

Speaking to ANI, Air Marshal M Matheswaran, former deputy chief of the Integrated Defence staff of Indian Armed Forces, said, “Indian Air Force is looking at Rafale as an excellent aircraft, SC has also agreed to that. As far as military is concerned, issue is over there.”

Central Govt has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court and has served a copy of it to all the petitioners in the Rafale deal, reported ANI.

“We have been very clear that Supreme Court was not an appropriate forum on which these issues can be decided, as it cannot summon and examine file notings, witnesses on oath, including questioning the Prime Minister, and we need to question the PM”, he added.

Speaking on the Rafale judgment, Sharad Pawar, NCP President said, “The SC judgement says that the decision is based on the basis of information they got from the Government. The Government told them that CAG has studied it and that Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has also approved it, but those things are not correct.”

“The PAC Chairman Mallikarjun Kharge is saying he has not received the CAG report. Then we have to take his word. He should either file an affidavit or review the petition in court saying that he did not receive the report and that the committee has not examined it”, BJP MP Subramaniam Swamy said on Saturday, 15 December, in response to Kharge’s statement claiming that he had not seen the report.

A day after the Supreme Court verdict on the Rafale deal, Public Accounts Committee chairman Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday that he would request all members of the panel to summon the Attorney General and the CAG to ask them when the public auditor's report was tabled in Parliament.

The senior Congress leader accused the government of "misleading" the Supreme Court by presenting wrong facts about the CAG report on the Rafale deal and demanded that the government should apologise for it, reported PTI.

Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala trained his guns on the government and said, “Is a guilty Modi Govt seeking to ‘correct’ the patent fraud played upon the Supreme Court.”

In his tweet, he further said – “Truth has a way of catching up.”

Hailing the Supreme Court decision, Dassault Aviation has said that the company is dedicated to “promote Make in India.”

The statement further read, “Dassault Aviation will ensure successful production in India through Dassault Reliance Joint Venture in Nagpur as well as through a full-fledged supply chain network.”

“We demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into the Rafale deal,” Congress President Rahul Gandhi said hours after the Supreme Court refused to order a probe into the deal.

Gandhi also said the day there is an investigation into the matter, “Narendra Modi and Anil Ambani’s names will emerge.”

Raising questions on the pricing of the deal, Gandhi said:

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge added, “In its judgment, the Supreme Court had said the CAG report on Rafale deal given to Parliament's Public Accounts Committee. But PAC has not received report.”

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a press conference hours after the Rafale deal case verdict.

“If a politician is caught lying, he should either resign or be impeached.” said Jaitley, hinting at Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s claims on the deal. Jaitley also said that deal in question has only protected both security and commercial interests of India.

On why only 36 fighter jets were finalised, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the work is in progress with the rest of the air crafts.

Attorney General KK Venugopal said that the Supreme Court judgment on the Rafale deal was “excellent.”

BJP leader Ram Madhav said some opposition parties have made “false allegations” against PM Narendra Modi and their government.

“Today SC has categorically rejected all those allegations and upheld the transparent manner in which the entire deal has been worked out,” Ram Madhav said.

BJP leader Ram Madhav said that Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition parties leveled “false allegations” against PM Modi.

“Congress, Rahul Gandhi and some opposition parties have been making false allegations against PM Modia and our governmentt over rafele deal. Today SC has categorically rejected all those allegations and upheld the transparent manner in which the entire deal has been worked out,” he said.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, when asked about the Rafale verdict said that it is in “no way, a setback for the party.”

BJP President Amit Shah said that he “welcomed” the apex court’s verdict, adding that “truth has triumphed.”

“People were being misled by unfortunately the country's oldest party. It's a slap on politics of lies,” Amit Shah said, addressing a press conference.

Attacking Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Shah said that he should “apologise to the nation for misleading people.”

“Want to ask Rahul Gandhi what was the source of information on basis of which he made such big allegations,” Shah said.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following the SC verdict on court-monitored probe into Rafale deal, reported ANI.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala responded to the Supreme Court verdict by stating that the order is a “validation” of what the Congress started a few months ago.

“Article 136 and 32 are not the forum to decide the issue – the pricing, the process, the sovereign guarantee and the corruption in the Rafale contract. Only forum and only media is a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) which can probe the entire corruption in Rafale deal,” Surjewala said.

"The role of the Government is not envisaged and, thus, mere press interviews or suggestions cannot form the basis for judicial review by this Court, especially when there is categorical denial of the statements made in the Press, by both the sides,” the verdict read.

“We do not find any substantial material on record to show that this is a case of commercial favouritism to any party by the Indian Government, as the option to choose the IOP does not *rest with* the Indian Government," the three-judge verdict read.

"It is certainly not the job of this court to carry out a comparison of the pricing details in matters like the present. We say no more as the material has to be kept in a confidential domain," the Supreme Court verdict said.

On Reduction in Aircraft from 126 to 36

“In view of our findings on all the three aspects, andhaving heard the matter in detail, we find no reason for anyintervention by this Court on the sensitive issue of purchase of 36 defence aircrafts by the Indian Government,” the SC said.

The verdict also added that, “Perception ofindividuals cannot be the basis of a fishing and roving enquiry bythis Court, especially in such matters. We, thus, dismiss all the writ petitions, leaving it to the parties to bear their own costs.”

“We, however, make it clear that our views as above are primarilyfrom the standpoint of the exercise of the jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution of India which has been invoked in the present group of cases,” the three-judge bench read.

Union Minister Rajnath Singh said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi tried to “mislead public for political benefit.”

“He maligned Indian image globally, he should apologize to the house and to the people of the country. He thought 'Hum to doobe hain sanam tum ko bhi le doobenge',” Singh said in the parliament.

“There is no reason for PM and BJP Govt to celebrate Supreme Court order which in itself is contradictory. Honourable SC has said it won't be proper for it to go into details,” said senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Anand Sharma.

Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, who the Congress has alleged was favoured by the NDA government, said that he welcomed the SC verdict.

“I welcome SC judgment today summarily dismissing all PILs filed on Rafale contracts, and conclusively establishing complete falsity of wild, baseless, politically motivated allegations leveled against Reliance Group,” Anil Ambani said, in a statement.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told News18 that the Supreme Court’s decision has exposed the Congress party’s “falsehood.”

The treasury benches Friday, 14 December, mounted a counter-offensive on the Opposition on the Rafale issue in Lok Sabha after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to the deal, with the government seeking an apology from Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said following the SC verdict, Rahul Gandhi should apologise.

As soon as the Question Hour was taken up, Opposition members trooped into the well carrying placards on various issues, including alleged scam in Rafale deal. But BJP members stood up and started raising slogans against the Congress and Gandhi.

Amid loud sloganeering, around 11:10 am, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till noon.

TMC MP Saugata Roy said that the Supreme Court said what it “thinks was right” but the political parties demand a JPC probe into the Rafale deal.

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan called the apex court verdict “totally wrong” and that they will file a review petition.

“In our opinion the Supreme Court judgment is totally wrong. The campaign will certainly not drop and we will decide if we will file a review petition,” Bhushan said.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, responding to the SC verdict, said that the Rafale deal was “fair and all campaigns against it must end.”

“India needed frontline fighter jets. We are happy with the Rafale verdict of the SC. The deal was fair, all campaigns against it should end now,” said Prasad.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking to ANI, said that the Rafale matter was always “crystal clear” and the allegations levelled by the Congress were “wrong.” He added that the Supreme Court has given the right verdict.

The Supreme Court said that it “did not find” any material to show commercial favourtism.

“There is no reason for interference in the choice of offset partner and perception of individuals can't be the basis for roving inquiry in sensitive issue of defence procurement,” the Chief Justice said, reading the verdict.

Reading the verdict, CJI Gogoi said that it is not the job of the court to get into pricing.

The Supreme Court finds “no irregularities” in NDA government's decision making process to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault under Indo-French intergovernmental agreement.

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi starts reading the verdict on pleas seeking court-monitored probe into India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France.nce.

“Power of judicial review varies from subject to subject,” CJI Gogoi said, reading the verdict.

The Supreme Court will pronounce verdict on Friday on pleas seeking court-monitored probe into India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France.

Advocate ML Sharma was the first petitioner in the case. Later, another lawyer Vineet Dhanda had moved the apex court with the plea for court-monitored probe into the deal.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh has also filed a petition against the fighter jet deal.

The most prominent petition among these had been filed by former NDA cabinet ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, along with senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, which alleged violations of the Prevention of Corruption Act by the 'highest political functionaries'.

The petition raised questions about:

• The way the deal was announced unilaterally by the Prime Minister in April 2015, without getting prior approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
• Non-adherence by the government to the relevant Defence Procurement Procedure, including the conditions when a full tender process could be avoided
• The high increase in price from the 126 aircraft deal the government had previously been negotiating.
• The involvement of Anil Ambani's Reliance defence companies in the offset contracts that need to be entered into under the deal, replacing the earlier deal's plan for technology transfers and manufacture of aircraft by HAL.

During the hearings, Prashant Bhushan, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie also raised the question of whether the Rafale deal could be considered an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) between India and France as the government has claimed, since it was unclear whether France had provided India with a sovereign guarantee for the deal.

The Law Ministry had raised concerns about this over during the negotiation process. The deal was only presented as an IGA, according to them, so that the tender process could be circumvented, and an offset contract option added, to the benefit of Reliance.

The government clarified in court that France had not in fact provided a sovereign guarantee, only a letter of comfort. The Cabinet Committee on Security waived the requirement of a sovereign guarantee in August 2016.

As The Quint discovered, this invalidated the basis on which two objections by the Indian Negotiating Team had been resolved, raising further question marks about the process for arriving at the deal.

The Centre contested the claims of corruption, arguing the relevant procedures were in fact followed, and that no allegations of corruption could be substantiated.

The Attorney-General argued that the number of aircraft for the deal had been reduced from 126 to 36 since there was a great urgency for the same, and that the price arrived at was appropriate because it included India-specific enhancements and weaponry.

Before the hearings began, the Supreme Court ordered the government to submit the details of the procedure followed for Rafale deal to it. Copies of the procedure and the offset contract process at play were provided to the petitioners as well, despite the protests of the government.

While reserving the verdict, the apex court had said that the pricing details of Rafale jets could only be discussed after it decides on whether to make it public.

While hearing a bunch of pleas alleging criminality in Rafale deal and seeking court-monitored probe into it, the apex court had asked wide-ranging questions from the government on issues including lack of sovereign guarantee from the French government, selection of Indian offset partner by the Dassault Aviation and need of entering into Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with France.

The court had taken note of submissions and counter arguments on pricing of the fighter jets with the petitioners alleging that the government has been giving "bogus arguments" and "hiding behind the secrecy clause".

Vehemently defending non-disclosure of price publicly, Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for Centre had said that the cost of a bare Rafale jet as per 2016 exchange rate was Rs 670 crore and the disclosure of price of a "fully loaded" aircraft would give an "advantage to the adversaries".

Bhushan had claimed that the Union Law Ministry had red-flagged two issues -- absence of sovereign guarantee by France and international arbitration clause in IGA as per which the arbitration seat would be at Geneva -- but the government went ahead with the deal.

Venugopal had admitted that there was no sovereign guarantee, but said that France has given a 'letter of comfort' which would be good enough as a governmental guarantee.

The court during the hearing on the bunch of pleas had also interacted senior Indian Air Force (IAF) officers and enquired about the requirements of the force.

The IAF officers had emphasised in the apex court the need for induction of 'four plus or fifth' generation fighter aircraft like Rafale, which have niche stealth technology and enhanced electronic warfare capabilities