Amidst opposition from Govt lawyer KK Venugopal, Supreme Court asks the Centre to provide details of the decision making process in the Rafale deal in a sealed cover
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, October 10, asked the Centre to provide details of the decision making process in the Rafale fighter jet deal in a sealed cover.
“We are not on suitability of Rafale jets but only on decision making process of the deal. Information shall be placed in sealed cover”, said CJI Ranjan Gogoi
The apex court bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, however, made it clear it does not want information on pricing and technical details of the deal with France.
The court was hearing various petitions seeking directions, including asking the Centre to reveal details of the Rafale deal and the comparative prices during the UPA and NDA rule in a sealed cover to the apex court. The petitioner has also requested for information about the contract given to Reliance by Dassault Aviation.
Advocate M L Sharma’s plea, filed earlier, alleging discrepancies in the fighter jet deal with France and seeking a stay on it also came up for hearing. Sharma claimed in his plea that the inter-government agreement to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets must be quashed as it was an “outcome of corruption” and not ratified by Parliament under Article 253 (Parliament has power to make any law for implementing any inter-government agreement) of the Constitution.
A similar plea was filed in the apex court in March this year seeking an independent probe into the Rafale deal and disclosure of the cost involved in the deal before Parliament.
The Centre opposed the PILs in court and sought that they be dismissed on the ground that they were filed to gain political mileage.
Attorney General K K Venugopal told the apex court that the issue in question pertains to national security and such issues cannot be reviewed judicially.
The apex court, however, did not issue notice to the Center on two PILs filed by two separate lawyers seeking a court monitored probe in the deal.
The court sought information from the Center on the decision making process in the deal in a sealed cover by October 29 and fixed the next hearing on the PILs to October 31.
