Former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and advocate Prashant Bhushan Wednesday, 2 January moved the Supreme Court, seeking review of its December 14 verdict dismissing all PILs alleging irregularities in the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from France.
In their review plea, they alleged that the judgment "relied upon patently incorrect claims made by the government in an unsigned note given in a sealed cover" to the apex court.
They have also sought that the plea be heard in an open court.
- The SC dismissed all petitions against the Rafale deal, rejected pleas for CBI or SIT probe
- CJI Ranjan Gogoi-led bench found no cause to interfere with the deal, said procedure was ‘broadly’ followed
- The apex court said the pricing of the deal and the offset processes were beyond scope of judicial review
- The Centre has defended the multi-billion deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets and opposed public disclosure of the pricing details
Read the full verdict here.
BJP MPs Move Breach of Privilege Notice Against Rahul
As the BJP stepped up attack on Rahul Gandhi over the Rafale issue, three members of the ruling party in the Lok Sabha moved a notice of breach of privilege against the Congress president, alleging that he spoke "falsehood" and "misled the House" over the fighter aircraft deal in his speech during a debate in July.
BJP MPs Anurag Thakur, Nishikant Dubey and Sanjay Jaiswal have sought action against Gandhi over his speech during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government in Parliament's Monsoon Session.
PAC May Not Summon AG, CAG as Majority of Members Against Kharge's Proposal
The PAC might not summon attorney general and the CAG over the public auditor's report on Rafale deal, as a majority of the members, including those from opposition parties, are not in favour of the proposal by panel chairman Mallikarjun Kharge.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had Friday claimed the Supreme Court in its verdict cited a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the deal that was submitted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), but he asserted that no such report was given to the House panel headed by Kharge.
Jaitley Rules out Setting up JPC on Rafale Deal
Ruling out referring the Rafale deal to a parliamentary panel, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Sunday launched a blistering attack on the Congress, calling it "bad losers" and said the CAG's view of the deal is not relevant after the Supreme Court's clean chit.
With the first four days of winter session of Parliament washed out over various protests, Jaitley said the opposition Congress will prefer disruptions over discussion on Rafale during the remainder of the session.
The Congress, which was not a petitioner before the apex court, wants the Rafale deal to be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to go into the price arrived at by the BJP government versus the one negotiated by the previous UPA regime, as also how billionaire Anil Ambani's group with virtually no experience in manufacture of fighter jets was selected as an offset partner for the deal.
"After the Supreme Court has spoken the last word, it gets legitimacy. A political body can never come to a finding contrary to what the Court has said," Jaitley wrote in a Facebook blog, titled 'Rafale - Lies, Shortlived lies and now further lies?'.
Cong Addressed Press Conference on Rafale Row
Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma addressed a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. The Congress leadership touched upon the issue of the recent SC verdict on the Rafale row. Sharma said that it is unfortunate that the prime minister and his government are trying to avoid investigation.