Rafale deal row: Did Narendra Modi government mislead Supreme Court on Rafale verdict?

After Supreme Court gave an all clear to the Narendra Modi led BJP government in the Rafale deal row, questions are being raised whether the Attorney General has mislead the apex court.

In the judgement by the bench of 3 judges, comprising of Chief Justice, they said that “Can’t doubt the process” and thereafter dismissed all the petitions filed before th ecourt in the matter. The bench also said that there is “nothing to show that government favored anyone” which eventually cleared the BJP of giving advantage to the Anil Ambani led Reliance Defence.

But the Supreme Court on Page 21, Para 25 has stated that the report of pricing was not fully disclosed before it and only base pricing was submitted, also the report was with the CAG, which had handed it over to the PAC and it was then tabled in the parliament. But, he bone of contention lies in the fact that neither the CAG nor the PAC have any report regarding the Rafale and neither it was tabled in the parliament.

The Supreme Court in its verdict said, “The material placed before us shows that the government has not disclosed pricing details, other than the basic price of the aircraft, even to Parliament, on the ground that sensitivity of pricing details could affect national security, apart from breaching the agreement between the two countries. The pricing details have, however, been shared with the Comptroller and Auditor General and the report of the CAG has been examined by the Public Accounts Committee. Only a redacted portion of the report was placed before Parliament, and is in public domain.”

But, the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) chairman, Mallikarjun Kharge has said that no such report ever came to him and neither the CAG was aware about the report.

Kharge said, “CAG does not have their comments and there is no report,” adding that “neither does the CAG know about it”. He said he had asked “the Deputy CAG today.”

Also read: Rafale deal row: Big relief to BJP as SC rejects all petition in Rafale probe, says, 'No commercial