Charging the NDA Government with “spinning a web of lies” on Rafale fighter jet deal, BJP rebels Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha, besides lawyer Prashant Bhushan, said here on Tuesday the recent statements by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley defending the deal were meant to protect only one person — Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who overturned established norms for the contract with France. The trio also alleged that Reliance was given “backdoor” entry into the offsets.

They claimed that the morale of the IAF was affected and claimed that the Government was forcing senior officers to defend the Rs 59,000-crore Government-to- Government contract. This assertion came in the backdrop of Vice Chief SB Deo and Deputy Chief R Nambiar stating last week that Rafale was an excellent aircraft and will enhance the combat capabilities of the IAF.  Bhushan said the officers were made to say the IAF was happy with 36 jets whereas the Service needed at least 126 jets.

Addressing a news conference, the second in recent times, Bhushan, Shourie and Sinha said the deal was “unilaterally struck” by Modi compromising national security and disregarding the IAF requirements. They charged that Modi was “directly culpable” for the alleged scam and the Government was hiding behind the veil of secrecy clause because it knew that the Prime Minister himself is “guilty of criminal misconduct.”

Elaborating upon the alleged circumventing of procedures, they said the decision to buy 36 jets in fly away condition from France was taken without taking the IAF and Defence Ministry on board.  They also charged that the Defence Procurement Prodecure(DPP) which guides arms contract was also overlooked.

As regards the secrecy clause binding the deal, they said the Government itself in 2016 admitted in Parliament that the price of each Rafale was Rs 670 crore.  Claiming a whopping hike the price later on, they said the media releases of Dassault, manufacturer of Rafale, and Reliance, offset partner of Dassault, said the price was Rs 1,660 crore per aircraft.  They said the increase of Rs 1,000 crore per plane on account of India-specific enhancements was an “outright lie.”