As Congress and ruling BJP are engaged in a slugfest over the Rafale fighter jet deal, the Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear next week a plea seeking a stay on the deal. IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal S B Deo said it is a “beautiful aircraft” and will give India “unprecedented” combat capabilities. He also said those questioning the deal have to understand the procurement norms and said they do not have adequate information about procedures. Deputy Chief of IAF R Nambiar said the aircraft was getting discussed for “wrong reasons.”
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the submissions of advocate M L Sharma that his plea be listed for urgent hearing. In his petition, Sharma has alleged discrepancies in the fighter jet deal with France and sought a stay on it.
Sharma has 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.
The petition has also sought FIR and prosecution of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Defence Minister and present Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, business tycoon Anil Ambani and French armament firm Dassault with recovery of amount.
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 plea, filed by Congress leader Tehseen S Poonawalla, had sought issuance of a direction against the Centre as to why the Union Cabinet’s approval was not sought as part of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) before signing the procurement deal with France on September 23, 2016.
Congress has upped the ante regarding the Rs 58,000 crore Government to Government deal with France alleging wrong doing. Asked about these allegations, IAF Vice Chief Deo told media persons on the sidelines of a seminar “all discussions on the deal” were taking place as people do not have adequate information about the procurement procedure.
“We are waiting for the aircraft to come. It is a beautiful aircraft. It is a very capable aircraft. It is a capability that we need quickly,” when asked about the ongoing controversy surrounding the Rafale deal. He also said “they should read Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) and offset policy.”