SC rejects PIL seeking fresh probe into Rafale deal

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a PIL seeking a fresh probe into the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale jets on the basis of reports alleging payment of bribes by Dassault Aviation for getting the order.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice S Ravindra Bhat considered the submission of lawyer M L Sharma that a direction for issuance of a letter rogatory to collect fresh evidence relating to the deal be issued.

The lawyer referred to media reports and sought issuance of direction for issuing letter rogatory to the Indian probe agency to enable them to secure evidence in the case from foreign countries. He said one billion Euros were allegedly paid by Dassault Aviation to some middleman to get the deal in its favour.

“Having gone through the facts and circumstances and the case on record, in our considered view, no case is made out for the exercise of jurisdiction of this court under Article 32 (provides right to move SC for enforcement of fundamental rights) of the Constitution,” the bench said.

Sensing the outcome, the lawyer sought the court’s nod to withdraw the PIL, which was permitted.

On December 14, 2018, the apex court had dismissed a batch of PILs challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale jets, saying there was no occasion to ”really doubt the decision making process” warranting setting aside of the contract.

It had rejected the pleas seeking lodging of an FIR and the court-monitored probe alleging irregularities in the Rs 58,000 crore deal, in which both the countries have entered into an inter-governmental agreement (IGA).

The apex court had said that perception of individuals cannot be the basis of a ”fishing and roving enquiry” by the court in such matters and it cannot ”sit in judgement” over the wisdom of the government’s decision to go in for purchase of 36 aircraft in place of 126.

Former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, along with activist advocate Prashant Bhushan, had moved the top court then with a plea for a direction to the CBI to register an FIR for alleged irregularities in the deal. Before them, advocates M L Sharma and Vineet Dhanda and AAP leader Sanjay Singh had also filed pleas.

The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.