‘Procedure, Not Price, To Be Discussed’: SC Reserves Decision On Court-Monitored Probe Into Rafale Deal

In a seemingly huge jolt to the petitioners, the Supreme Court (SC), while hearing pleas seeking a court monitored probe into the Rafale deal, has said that there would be no discussion on the pricing details of the Rafale deal for now, Economic Times has reported.

The SC bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, on Wednesday (14 November), heard both the government and petitioners on the matter and has decided to reserve its order on the issue.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, representing the government, defended the secrecy clause in the deal and said that the nation’s adversaries may be at an advantageous position if the details of the deal are disclosed in their entirety.

Venugopal said that he would not be able to assist the court on the issue of the price as he hadn’t seen the details himself, fearing a possible leak.

“I decided not to peruse it myself as in a case of any leak, my office would be held responsible,” Venugopal said.

“We have been saying that even Parliament has not been told about the complete cost of the jets,” he added.

“Any discussion as to pricing will happen only if we allow these stats to come into public domain”, assured Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

The apex court, during the hearing, also said that it would like to quiz an officer of Indian Air Force (IAF) regarding the requirements of the IAF and not some official of the Defence ministry.

Venugopal also said that this is a matter for experts to deal with and not one where judicial review may be done based on some media reports and other documents whose possession with the petitioners is shrouded in mystery.