NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Rafale deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday maintained that there was massive corruption in the contract and wondered why the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report “cited by the Supreme Court of India” on it had not yet been shared with the public accounts committee of parliament.
Gandhi also reiterated the Congress’s demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale fighter jet deal and claimed that if it was conducted, names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and businessman Anil Ambani will come to the fore. Both the government and Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group have rejected Gandhi’s allegations of any wrongdoing.
At a press conference, Gandhi said the Supreme Court in its Rafale verdict cited that a report by CAG on the Rafale deal was submitted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) but asserted that no such report was given to the house panel headed by Congress’s leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge.
Kharge, who was also present at the briefing, said PAC has not received any such report. “Where has that report gone? Is it with some other PAC that PM Modi has set up,” he asked.
He also accused the Modi government of destroying “all institutions” and asserted that corruption to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore has taken place in the Rafale deal under its watch.
Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale jets saying there was no occasion to “really doubt the decision-making process” warranting setting aside of the contract.
The apex court rejected the pleas, which sought lodging of an FIR and a court-monitored probe alleging irregularities in the Rs 58,000 crore deal, in which both the countries have entered into an inter-governmental agreement.
Source: Press Trust of India
