The Rafale deal controversy took an interesting turn when the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre for pricing details of the 36 fighter jets India will purchase from France. The Government strongly objected to this saying the pricing aspect was classified, but the court remained unimpressed and asked the Centre to put its objection on affidavit and also bring details of the decision-making process of the deal in the public domain within ten days.
The court further pushed the Centre to the corner by asking it details of how Rafale manufacturer Dassault chose Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group to partner with it in India under the offset obligation.
The court’s directive has serious ramifications because on the last date of hearing on October 10 the judges had refused to entertain the petitioners’ plea for asking the Government to disclose the pricing details. Then the court had asked the Government to share just the decision-making process of the fighter jet acquisition. The court had then said it would not go into “pricing or suitability” of the fighter jets.
On Thursday, the court noted that following its October 10 order, the Government has placed before it a note giving details of the steps taken in the decision-making process leading to the procurement of 36 Rafale jets.
However, the court gave no indication as to what prompted it to seek details about pricing and offset aspects after it went through the Government’s note on decision-making process involved in the Rafale deal.
The Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi directed that the Centre must bring details of the decision-making process of the deal in the public domain, except those that are confidential and have strategic importance. The information must be shared by the Government within 10 days and the petitioners could respond to it in the next seven days, the Bench said and posted the matter for November 14.
Attorney General KK Venugopal raised objections on the apex court order seeking the pricing details of the fighter jet purchase. He said that these details come under Official Secrets Act and not even shared with Parliament. “If pricing is something exclusive and you are not sharing it with us, please file an affidavit and say so,” the Bench told Attorney General KK Venugopal in its oral observations.
The top court was hearing four petitions, including one by advocate Prashant Bhushan and former Union Ministers Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha, who are seeking a court monitored CBI investigation in the procurement of the fighter jets. “That you will have to wait,” the CJI said, adding, “Let CBI put its house in order first.”
The Bench, also comprising Justices UU Lalit and KM Joseph, said the “core of information” that can be brought in the public domain should be shared with the “petitioner and petitioners in person”. In its order, the SC observed that none of the petitioners has questioned the suitability of the Rafale jets, their equipment and their utility to the Indian Air Force.
“What has been questioned is the bonafide of the decision-making process and the price/cost at which the same is to be procured,” the Bench said. At this stage, the Bench said, the court did not want to record any finding or view on the documents placed before it. It also observed that information regarding induction of the Indian offset partner be given to the court and the petitioners.
When a counsel appearing for AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh told the Bench he has also filed a petition in this matter, the court asked, “What is his interest? We don’t have to entertain so many petitions.” Shourie was present in the court during the hearing.
India signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of the Indian Air Force. The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.
In August 2007, the Indian Air Force advanced a proposal to buy 126 fighter aircraft and floated a tender. Following this, an invitation was sent to various aviation companies to participate in the bidding process.
The public interest litigations (PILs) against the Rafale deal were initially filed by lawyers ML Sharma and Vineet Dhanda. Later, two other petitions were filed, one by Sinha, Shourie and Bhushan, and another by AAP’s Sanjay Singh. The two former Union Ministers and Bhushan have sought registration of an FIR and have alleged “criminal misconduct” by high public functionaries.
The trio has also sought a direction to the CBI to investigate the offences mentioned in their complaint in a “time-bound” manner and periodic status reports to the apex court.
In 2007, they claimed, tenders were issued by the Ministry of Defence for the purchase of 126 fighter jets. It was specified in the Request for Proposal that 18 of these aircraft would be purchased from abroad in a ‘fly-away’ condition. The remaining 108 were to be manufactured in India in the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) factory with transfer of technology from the foreign vendor.
The plea alleges that the new deal gives undue benefit to Reliance Aerospace Limited (RAL) and the escalation of price of airplanes is to account for collateral considerations. It has also sought direction to the Centre to cease and desist from influencing or intimidating in any way the officials that would investigate the offences mentioned in the complaint and not transfer the CBI officials tasked with investigation.
