Plea seeking fresh probe into Rafale deal thrown out by SC

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New
Delhi,
Aug
29:
The
Supreme
Court
on
Monday
refused
to
entertain
a
PIL
seeking
a
fresh
probe
into
the
deal
between
India
and
France
for
the
procurement
of
36
Rafale
jets.

A
bench
comprising
Chief
Justice
Uday
Umesh
Lalit
and
S
Ravindra
Bhat
considered
lawyer
M
L
Sharma’s
submission
that
a
direction
for
issuing
a
letters
rogatory
to
collect
fresh
evidence
relating
to
the
deal
be
issued.
He
also
referred
to
some
media
reports
alleging
that
one
billion
Euros
was
paid
by
Dassault
Aviation
to
a
middleman
to
get
the
deal
in
its
favour.

The
bench
refused
to
consider
the
fresh
PIL.
Sharma
then
decided
to
withdraw
the
PIL,
news
agency
PTI
reported.

Indonesia
inks
Rafale
fighter
jet
deal
with
France

On
December
14,
2018,
the
top
court
had
dismissed
a
batch
of
PILs
challenging
the
deal
between
India
and
France
for
the
procurement
of
36
Rafale
jets,
saying
there
was
no
occasion
to
“really
doubt
the
decision
making
process”
warranting
setting
aside
of
the
contract.