Rafale deal scam: SC to hear review petition on its judgement

 New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear a review petition against its December 14, 2018, judgement in which it had refused to order a probe into the deal to procure 36 Rafale fighter planes from France.

The Supreme Court on December 14 last year had dismissed all petitions seeking court-monitored probe into Rafale fighter jet deal with France, saying that there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the deal. The top court had also said that it was not its job to go into the issue of pricing of fighter planes.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi had said that there was no need to conduct an investigation into details of Rafale pricing.

On January 2, petitioners in Rafale fighter jet deal case — Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, both former Union Ministers, and Prashant Bhushan, a noted lawyer — had moved the apex court for review of its Rafale judgement of December 14.

They have asked for recalling of the judgement, and they have also asked to grant an oral hearing in the open court for their review plea.

Their petition states that the December 14 verdict contained several errors and also it relied upon patently incorrect claims made by the Government in an unsigned note given in a sealed cover to the court, which is a violation of the principle of natural justice.

They also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had signed an agreement for 36 Rafale jets on April 10, 2015, without any such requirement of 36 jets being given by the Air Force Headquarters and without the approval of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which are the mandated first steps for any defence procurement.