Congress sidesteps UPA-era Rafale kickback charge; quips 'why didn't CBI & ED act?'

Sidestepping the UPA-era kickback charge levelled by French online journal Mediapart, Congress instead questioned the inaction of the CBI and the ED to investigate this. Essentially, French aviation firm Dassault Aviation has been accused of paying at least 7.5 million euros in "secret commissions" to alleged middleman Sushen Gupta to help secure the sale of the Rafale fighter jets to India. As per the publication, this amount was sent to Gupta's Mauritius-based firm Interstellar Technologies Ltd. allegedly using fake invoices between 2007 and 2012 in the garb of "IT contracts". 

Moreover, it alleged that the CBI and the ED had not conducted a probe despite being in possession of documents regarding the same since October 2018. Latching on to this, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera questioned the Centre on why the aforesaid agencies had not acted in the last 36 months. Moreover, he indicated that there might be a connection between the removal of Alok Verma as the CBI chief and the "proof" received from the authorities in Mauritius. 

Addressing a press briefing on Tuesday, Pawan Khera remarked, "On October 4, 2018, two former BJP Ministers- Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and a senior advocate handed over their complaint alleging corruption in the Rafale deal to the then CBI Director. On October 11, 2018, the Mauritius government's Attorney General gave documents regarding the purported commission paid in the Rafale deal. On October 23, a PM-led committee dismissed CBI Director Alok Verma at midnight." 

Reiterating his party's allegations pertaining to the Rafale deal, the Congress leader added, "Congress and the UPA government floated an international tender. When the tender was opened, Rs. 526 crore was the price per fighter aircraft. Negotiations took place. We lost in 2014. The Modi government purchased the same fighter aircraft at Rs.1670 crore each without floating any tender". He also accused the PM of removing the anti-corruption clause from the Rafale deal and favouring a private company over Hindustan Aeronautics Limited​​​​​.

What is the Rafale deal controversy? 

The government of India signed a deal with the French government and Dassault Aviation to procure 36 Rafale fighter jets to bolster India’s urgent requirement on the eastern and western borders in 2016. The opposition parties led by the Congress-led a frontal attack on this deal costing 7.8 million euros in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi had demanded a JPC to probe various allegations like the escalation of procurement price and undue benefits to a private Indian company. On November 14, 2019, the Supreme Court dismissed pleas seeking a review of its verdict dated December 14, 2018 judgment, which had rejected the petitions against the Rafale deal. 

Earlier revelations

Previously, Mediapart revealed that France has commenced a judicial investigation into the Rafale deal on June 14. While the country's national financial prosecutor Parquet National Financier (PNF) had dismissed an initial complaint filed by NGO Sherpa in 2019, its new head Jean-François Bohnert decided to start a probe after the plaint was updated with Mediapart's recent series of investigations. The NGO has alleged levelled allegations such as “corruption”, “influence peddling”, “money laundering”, “favouritism” and undue tax wavering. 

An independent magistrate shall examine questions surrounding the actions of top politicians such as former French president François Hollande and current French president Emmanuel Macron. The probe is also expected to focus on the role of Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani. Dassault Aviation and the Reliance Group formed a joint venture company- Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (51% Reliance Aerostructure and 49% Dassault Aviation) with an industrial plant in Nagpur for discharge of offsets. Citing confidential documents, Mediapart claimed that Dassault had no interest in forming this partnership other than for "political reasons".