Rafale: PM Modi should be probed, says Rahul Gandhi

"Whoever speaks against the Prime Minister faces law. So probe should also take place into the Prime Minister's role in the Rafale deal as well," Gandhi said citing The Hindu report which stated Modi held separate talks while singing the deal.

The central government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the Rafale documents were stolen and the petitioners are violating law by relying on such papers.

Petitioner Prashant Bhushan had cited The Hindu report in the court.

Gandhi said the Centre's acknowledgement of the fact that the Rafale files went missing proves the documents were authentic.

"Everyone is equal under the law. On one hand you are saying, documents are missing, which implies these are authentic documents. Documents clearly state that Narendra Modi conducted parallel negotiation," the Congress president said at a morning press conference.

The leader of the largest opposition party did not restrain himself from taking a dig at the Prime Minister over the missing documents as well.

He said: "This government's motive to make all things go missing."

"2 crore jobs are missing, fair MSPs for farmers are missing, Businesses are missing due to GST... And today, Rafale files are missing," added Gandhi.

The Hindu report on Rafale pointing finger at Modi government:

In its first report, The Hindu had claimed that the PMO (Prime Minister's Office) held parallel parleys with the French government prompting the Defence Ministry to object to the separate talks.

The Defence Ministry's objection was quoted by The Hindu, "We may advise PMO that any Officers who are not part of Indian Negotiating Team may refrain from having parallel parlays [parleys] with the officers of French Government....in case the PMO is not confident about the outcome of negotiations being carried out by the MoD, a revised modality of negotiations to be led by PMO at appropriate level may be adopted in the case.” 

The second report stated the Indian government made some unprecedented concessions to France in the Rafale deal.

Days before the signing of the deal, as the newspaper reported, India dropped provisions for anti-corruption penalties and making payments through an escrow account.

In the third report pointing a finger at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, The Hindu stated three Defence Ministry officials had arrived at a conclusion that the Rafale deal (buying of 36 fighter jets from France) made by the Narendra Modi government was not on "better terms" than the one made by the UPA government.

The three Defence Ministry officials, who were the domain experts on the seven-member Indian Negotiating Team (INT), also concluded that the delivery schedule of the first 18 of 36 jets in the new deal was slower than the original procurement process. 

Under the Congress-led UPA government, which ruled the country from 2004 to 2014, India has signed a deal to buy 126 Rafale fighter jets. 

What did Centre tell Supreme Court yesterday?

"These documents were stolen from the Defence  Ministry either by former or present employees. These are secret documents and can't be in the public domain," the Attorney General has been quoted by NDTV.

When Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi asked what action has been taken, the Centre said the government is probing into the matter.

"It is a criminal offence. We are objecting preliminary because secret documents can't be annexed with the petition. Review and perjury petitions must be dismissed," the Attorney General was quoted by NDTV.

Image Credit: Congress Twitter