New Delhi: In relief to the Modi government, the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the pleas 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 seeking lodging of an FIR and the court-monitored probe alleging irregularities in the Rs 58,000 crore deal, in which both the countries have entered into an inter-governmental agreement (IGA).
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi dealt with “three broad areas of concern” raised in the petitions — the decision making process, pricing and the choice of Indian offset partners (IOP) — and said there was no reason for intervention by the court on the “sensitive issue” of purchase of 36 jets. It said the Indian Air Force (IAF) needs advanced fighter jets as the country cannot afford to be “unprepared” or “under prepared” in a situation where adversaries have acquired fourth and fifth generation fighter aircraft, “of which, we have none”.
“In view of our findings on all the three aspects, and having heard the matter in detail, we find no reason for any intervention by this court on the sensitive issue of purchase of 36 defence aircrafts by the Indian Government,” the bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, said in its 29-page judgement.
Attorney General K K Venugopal welcomed the verdict terming it as an “excellent” and “very good” judgement, which in his opinion has given “clean chit” to the government by accepting all its arguments.
“I think a clean chit has been given to the government on Rafale deal,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function to give farewell to Justice Madan B Lokur, who is set to retire on December 30. The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.
The Court said that perception of individuals cannot be the basis of a “fishing and roving enquiry” by the court in such matters and it cannot “sit in judgement” over the wisdom of government’s decision to go in for purchase of 36 aircrafts in place of 126.
“We are satisfied that there is no occasion to really doubt the process, and even if minor deviations have occurred, that would not result in either setting aside the contract or requiring a detailed scrutiny by the court,” the bench said.
It noted that process for procurement of 36 Rafale jets was concluded on September 23, 2016 and no questions were raised at that time and the petitions were later filed after reported statement of former French President Francois Hollande with regard to selection of Indian offset partners. (PTI)
