The Supreme Court on Wednesday commenced its crucial hearing on pleas seeking court-monitored probe into procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France. The apex court is examining the sensitive pricing details of the 36 Rafale fighter jets, submitted by the Centre in a sealed cover, is scheduled to be examined by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph is holding the crucial hearing in the case. The initial arguments are being commenced by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, who told the court that the Inter Government Agreement was "illegal" and sought an investigation in the matter. Besides Sharma, another lawyer Vinnet Dhanda has also filed a plea in the matter.
The Centre had on Monday handed over a 14-page document titled "Details of the steps in the decision making process leading to the award of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft order" to the petitioners in the case.
The government had also filed in the court in a sealed cover the pricing details of the Rafale jets.
The petitioners are likely to respond to the contents of the documents in which it has been stated by the government that the deal for 36 Rafale jets were negotiated on "better terms" and the Defence Procurement Procedure laid out in 2013 were "completely followed".
The Centre has also said the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approval was secured before the deal was inked with France.
The details of the decision-making process and pricing were placed in the court in compliance with its October 31 order.
also read
- 'Can't control elections': Supreme Court reserves order in EVM-VVPAT case
- Here are the 5 questions Supreme Court asked ECI on EVM, VVPAT and control unit
- A day after SC remark, Patanjali comes up with a bigger public apology in newspapers
- SC directive on pleas seeking 100% EVM-VVPAT verification today. What we know so far
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 equipment. The estimated cost of the deal is Rs 58,000 crore.
The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.
The petitions seeking the probe in the Rafale deal were first filed by advocates Manohar Lal Sharma and Vineet Dhanda.
Later, AAP MP Sanjay Singh had also filed a petition.
Former union ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan had also filed a joint petition in the apex court.
