#RafaleDeal: Center files fresh affidavit in Rafale review case
What's the story
The Center has filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court on Saturday against the petitions seeking review of the top court's Rafale deal verdict in December 2018. The Center said the SC's 14 Dec'18 judgment, upholding the Modi government's 36 Rafale jets deal, was correct. The government said "unsubstantial media reports" and "part internal file notings" cannot form the basis for a review.
Affidavit
Monitoring cannot be construed as interference or parallel negotiations: Center
According to news agency ANI, the Center in its affidavit in the Rafale review petitions case stated, "Monitoring of progress by PMO of this Government to Government process cannot be construed as interference or parallel negotiations." ANI tweeted, "...It appears that PMO and French President's office are monitoring the progress of the issues which was an outcome of the summit meeting."
Twitter Post
Here's what the Center stated in its fresh affidavit
Centre in affidavit in Rafale review petition case: the then Hon’ble Raksha Mantri had recorded on file that …”it appears that PMO and French President’s office are monitoring the progress of the issues which was an outcome of the summit meeting.” 2/2 https://t.co/yKwpR9sX5d
— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019
Quote
Judgment upholding the 36 Rafale jets deal was correct: Center
The Center, in its affidavit, stated, "Judgment upholding the 36 Rafale jets deal was correct." It added, "Unsubstantiated media reports and/or part internal file notings deliberately projected in a selective manner cannot form basis for review."
Petitions
Two review petitions have been filed in Rafale deal matter
The petitions seek review of the Supreme Court's 14 December verdict on the Rafale deal in which it gave a clean chit to the Modi government. Two review petitions have been filed in the Rafale deal matter. One of the review pleas was filed by former Union ministers, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, and advocate Prashant Bhushan while AAP MP Sanjay Singh filed the other.
Classified documents
SC rejected Center's objections to use of classified documents
In March, the government told the Supreme Court that "secret" Rafale deal-related documents were stolen from the Defense Ministry and petitioners filing review pleas in the matter were relying on classified documents, violating the Official Secrets Act. In April, the SC rejected the Center's objections to the use of these "secret" documents for considering review petitions, allowing the admissibility of these documents as evidence.
Information
SC asked Center to file response to review petitions
The SC earlier asked the government to file its response to the Rafale review petitions by Saturday (4 May). The CJI Ranjan Gogoi-led bench, on 30 April, also refused to allow the Center's plea to be granted a four-week extension to file its response.