Ex-Defence Minister seeks JPC probe into ‘grave compromise’ on national security, rues HAL image assassination
Former Defence Minister AK Antony on Tuesday accused incumbent Nirmala Sitharaman of “suppressing facts” regarding the Rafale deal and asked why the Government is not setting up a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe it. Antony also held the Government “guilty” of “gravely compromising” national security in the Rafale deal.
The Congress leader demanded that the Modi Government should publish the price of the UPA Government’s deal for 126 aircraft and the current price of the NDA Government’s 36 Rafale deal, including per aircraft price, to clear the doubts and let the nation decide who is correct.
“Since, there is a growing perception that the Modi Government’s Rafale purchase deal has more skeletons in its closet, let there be a joint parliamentary probe to bring out the truth,” Antony said at a Press conference.
He also accused the PM of violating the Defence procurement procedure (DPP), as according to it only the Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by the Defence Minister and comprising the three service chiefs, can decide the number of aircraft and weapons to be purchased. “Prime Minister Modi’s decision is a clear violation of the DPP,” he said.
“In the JPC, the present Government has got the majority. Why are they afraid? Let the JPC go through all the files. The JPC can call files. A JPC consisting of a majority of persons from the Government can look through all the files and come out with the truth,” the Congress leader said.
Rejecting the charges levelled by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that an unprecedented intervention by him in 2013 had put the “final nail in the coffin” of the aircraft deal when the cost negotiation committee was giving final touches to the deal, Antony said, “Her allegations are completely false and she is deliberately suppressing the facts.”
The former Minister went on to allege that contract negotiations were almost over and when the proposal was sent to the Finance Ministry, it felt that the life cycle cost concept was a new concept and they cannot support it.
Antony also claimed that the then Congress-led UPA Government had received objections and reservations in written from several leaders, including a senior BJP MP, about the life cycle cost calculation and the Indian Air Force (IAF) was insisting to finalise the deal. “Then I directed that the negotiations should continue, but take it to the Cabinet Committee on Security only after disputes are settled,” Antony said.
The former Defence Minister accused Sitharaman of trying to tarnish the image of public-sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) both nationally and globally. He also asked if the price of the Rafale fighter jets were cheaper than that negotiated by the UPA Government, and why the Government bought only 36 aircraft instead of 126 from the French company.
“While Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had claimed that in the new agreement, the price is nine per cent cheaper than it was in the UPA deal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it is 20 per cent cheaper and an IAF officer said it is 40 per cent cheaper, then why they didn’t buy more than 126 if it was cheaper?” Antony asked.
He claimed that before the UPA demitted office, the negotiations were almost over, and after the NDA came to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a unilateral decision on April 10, 2015 to purchase 36 aircraft. “When the IAF demanded 126 aircraft, who authorised the PM to reduce the number to 36?” he asked.
The requirement for 126 aircraft was made by the IAF in 2000. In 2018, the threat perception from our border nations has increased than what it was in 2000, Antony claimed. The Congress leader claimed that if the UPA
deal was not cancelled, the HAL would have acquired state-of-the-art technology through transfer-of-technology and would have gained experience to manufacture fighter aircraft. India lost this opportunity, he said.
“Instead of seriously trying to resolve those teething issues, Prime Minister Modi went to Paris and announced the unilateral purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft under the inter-governmental agreement on April 10, 2015,” he said.
Antony said Sitharaman claimed that HAL does not have the capability to manufacture these aircraft, but it is the only aerospace company in India having the capacity and has been awarded the Navaratna status. He said HAL has manufactured 4,660 aircraft of 31 types, including the Sukhois and the MiG.
During the UPA rule, HAL was a profit-making company, but under the Modi Government, HAL, for the first time in its history, has taken approximately Rs 1,000 crore loan from various banks, Antony claimed.
