New Delhi: The Supreme Court has appealed the government to provide the price details of the Rafale jet deal within the next ten days. The Supreme Court also said that if the revelation of this information is detrimental to the national security, the government should file an affidavit this regard saying so. The central government had refused to reveal the details even to the Lok Sabha giving the same reason that it is detrimental to the national security.
The accusations are rife that the Rafale jets have been bought at a very high price rate and this is a fraudulent deal. A petition has been filed against this in the supreme court. The supreme court bench comprising of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice A.M Joseph had asked for the details of the decision-making process of the deal, during the hearing of this petition. Following that, on Wednesday the bench asked for the price details of the Rafale deal. The Supreme Court bench has ordered the central government to submit the details in a sealed envelope within the next ten days.
The bench also told the Attorney General K.K. Venugopal that if the government feels that revealing this information will not be prudent, the government should file an affidavit to that effect. Before this, the government had taken a stand that the information is sensitive and cannot be revealed while refusing to give any information to the Parliament. The central government has expressed a concern that if the details of price and the other details are revealed then China and Pakistan will be able to understand the weapon systems being deployed on these fighter jets. Attorney General Venugopal is of the opinion that divulging this information will be a violation of the Official Secrets Act.
The petitioners Advocate Prashant Bhushan, former central minister Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie demanded to the Supreme Court that a CBI enquiry should be instituted in the Rafale Deal. Refusing the permission saying that it was not warranted as of yet, the Supreme Court remarked that let CBI first restore their house order. The Supreme Court also refused to comment on any information and documents submitted to the bench in the relation of the case.
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