SC turns down Pleas for Probe into Rafale Deal

Guwahati, December 15, 2018:

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed four petitions from lawyers M L Sharma and Vineet Dhanda, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, and former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, seeking a court-monitored probe into the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft from French manufacturer Dassault.

After interacting with senior Air Force officers and the material placed before them, a bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice S K Kaul and Justice K M Joseph stated: We are satisfied there is no occasion to doubt the decision-making process" and also added that "perception of individuals cannot be the basis of a fishing and roving enquiry by this court, especially in such matters".

Further calling the issue "sensitive", the court added that: "We do not find any substantial material on record to show that this is a case of commercial favouritism to any party by the Indian government, as the option to choose the IOP (Indian Offset Partner) does not rest with the Indian government,” referring to the alleged favours the BJP government had done to Anil Ambani's 'Reliance Aerostructure Ltd' Indian offset partners.