The Rafale fighter jets case has crossed a hurdle Wednesday when the Supreme Court made it clear the documents leaked from the central government files will not be excluded from consideration. The Modi government took a hit. The court has rejected the government’s argument that the leaked documents, “privileged” in nature, posed a threat to national security. Hopefully, the review petitions filed by a legal activist and a set of BJP’s own estranged leaders will now carry forward with all the seriousness it deserves.
Notably, the review petitions have surfaced after the apex court rejected a batch of petitions on December 14 last and cleared the procurement of a set of 36 Rafale fighter jets. The review would now go into aspects of pricing of the jets and selection of the Anil Ambani group as the Indian offset partner for Dassault Aviation — the French manufacturer that entered into the Rafale deal with India. Caught in the web of allegations is also a submission that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) directly interfered into the making of the deal and interacted with the French agencies, while this should have been the exclusive job of the defence ministry. Leaked records claim to have testified to such “interference.” Whether this was an intervention with national interests in mind, or an “interference” to help the Anil Ambani group, was a salient point being raised. The court, in its wisdom, has found it necessary to accept the review petitions though it had in its December order made it clear there was no reason to doubt the decision-making process or ordering a cancellation of the contract.
It is important that the case is taken to its logical conclusion without further loss of time. Notably, the Rafale deal was originally signed by the UPA II government in the beginning of 2012 for delivery of a set of 126 fighter jets, but procedural and other contentious issues led to delays and the Modi government reworked the agreement and limited purchases to 36, to start with. Eight years have passed and India is still fighting cases and not seeing delivery of the fighter jets. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone on record to state that India’s positioning vis-a-vis its neighbours – read China and Pakistan – would have been different if the Rafale jets were in the possession of the Indian Air Force. These being critical times, it is hoped that the apex court would study related matters and arrive at a final judgement at the earliest. Time is of the essence.