Three days after a news report by The Hindu on the Rafale deal triggered a political storm, the newspaper published fresh allegations of flouting of procedures in the deal to buy 36 fighters from France. Not surprisingly, the Congress party and other opponents of the Narendra Modi government latched on to the allegations.
The Hindu on Monday cited government documents to claim the Modi government had agreed to “drop” important provisions in the inter-governmental agreement (IGA) between India and France, including provisions for anti-corruption penalties and setting up of an escrow account to process payments, shortly before the deal was signed in 2016.
The new report in the The Hindu gives ammunition to critics who argue that the changed provisions effectively reduced the scope of the French government's role in the contract, countering the Modi government's arguments that the Rafale deal was a government-to-government transaction.
The Hindu cited documents that claimed to show the changes in procedure were approved by a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by then defence minister Manohar Parrikar in September 2016.
No penalty clause for undue influence, no clause against agency commission, no clause for access to suppliers' accounts and Dassault goes laughing all the way to the bank.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) February 11, 2019
Responding to the revelations in The Hindu, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram tweeted, “The Rafale deal is unravelling faster than the government thought.” Referring to the alleged changes in provisions for the inter-governmental agreement, Chidambaram tweeted, “No penalty clause for undue influence, no clause against agency commission, no clause for access to suppliers' accounts and Dassault goes laughing all the way to the bank.”
Modi govt makes the excuse that Rafale deal is a govt to govt deal. But these anti-corruption clauses have been removed from supply protocols, to be executed by two private French defence companies. Nothing to do with French govt either. It didn't even give a sovereign guarantee. pic.twitter.com/l1JdhcMZnF
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) February 11, 2019
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted, “Modi govt makes the excuse that Rafale deal is a govt to govt deal. But these anti-corruption clauses have been removed from supply protocols, to be executed by two private French defence companies. Nothing to do with French govt either. It didn't even give a sovereign guarantee.”
On Friday, The Hindu reported that a ministry of defence document showed the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had held “parallel negotiations” even as an MOD team was holding talks. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alleged the document proved the Modi government had actively interfered in altering the Rafale deal to benefit industrialist Anil Ambani.
