Accusing the government of misrepresenting facts about the procurement of 36 Rafale jets in the Supreme Court, the Congress on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “should be charged with perjury, contempt and parliamentary privileges”.
A day after the SC refused to intervene in the Rafale deal, the Congress criticised the Narendra Modi government for “rowing a boat of jumlas ” and manipulating institutions on the issue.
Calling the BJP’s plea to clarify a “misinterpretation” a gimmick, Congress MP and spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the BJP was desperately trying to shift the blame and save its skin. He was speaking at a press conference in the city, also attended by Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam.
Questioning the BJP’s silence over the queries raised by the Congress, Mr. Singhvi said, “The government has said on Saturday that the SC “misinterpreted” a statement. But there are several things that need an explanation from the BJP, like the CAG report cited and the relationship between Reliance and Dassault.”
In its verdict on Friday, the Supreme Court had said there is no occasion to doubt the decision-making process of the government, and had dismissed all petitions that called for an investigation into alleged irregularities in the deal.
Lashing out at the government for refusing to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the deal, Mr. Singhvi said, “Suddenly, the BJP feels that the JPC is politically divided. When they pressurised our governments for a JPC probe during cases like Bofors, Harshad Mehta, 2G allocations and VVIP choppers deal, it was gold for them.” He said a JPC inquiry is important because in several parts of the judgement, the SC has said it is undesirable for it to carry out a judicial review in defence and pricing matters.
Wrong claim: Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, meanwhile, termed the government’s claim that a CAG report on the Rafale deal had been examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as “absolutely wrong”.
Speaking to media channels in Pune, Mr. Pawar said, “The SC judgement says the decision is based on the information they got from the government. The government told them that the CAG has studied it and PAC approved it … This is absolutely wrong.” Hesaid neither had the CAG studied the deal nor had the PAC discussed it.
(With PTI inputs)
