CAG to start Rafale audit only after full execution of deal

The government’s auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), will audit the government’s procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France for $8.7 billion, as it does all other deals, but only after the “deal is fully executed and the payments are completed,” according to a senior CAG official who asked not to be identified.

After several media reports surfaced earlier this week about an ongoing CAG audit of the deal, defence ministry officials said they were not aware of such a development and added that deals usually come up for an audit after a contract is fully executed.

The NDA government’s G2G (government to government) deal to acquire the Rafale aircraft has become controversial with the Congress party claiming it is more expensive than a deal struck during the UPA regime. The government’s response is that the two deals aren’t comparable, and that the older one had terms which would have meant it wouldn’t have gone through. The Indian Rafales are equipped with latest weapons and tailored for Indian needs.

Meanwhile, Sitharaman, in response to a question on the $8.7 billion deal, told reporters earlier this week: “I am assuring you in the company of all the senior officials that yes there is no scandal in Rafale. We are very clear on that part.” Sitharaman was highlighting the defence ministry’s achievements in the first four years of the NDA government at a press conference.

A second CAG official said that any major spending of the government automatically comes under the auditor’s radar and the Rafale will not be an exception.

“It is routine for us. But as it is a major spending, we might do it on a priority, but only after the payments are made and the deal is executed,” the official added on condition of anonymity.

The fact that a deal will be audited doesn’t mean there are problems with it. The defence minister accused the opposition of launching “motivated attacks” against the government and making “false price comparisons.”

NEW DELHI:

Pa Ranjith Rajinikanth, Easwari Rao, Huma Qureshi, Nana Patekar

Is Kaala a spectacular film? Not really. Is it a spectacle? You bet it is. Kaala Karikaalan, the don who rules Dharavi, is not the star of the story. The plot revolves around the residents of this famously sprawling Mumbai slum. Specifically, the ones who left Tamil Nadu for a better life and ended up in this hub of industry with an annual turnover of $1 billion. They aren’t beneficiaries of that bustling industry, though. These are blue-collar workers who earn a living doing menial, manual labour. They are looked down upon, talked down to; no one will drink a glass of water in their homes.

Taking a cause close to his heart — the oppression of Dalits — director Pa Ranjith weaves just the kind of story you would expect, given that the vehicle is the people’s superstar, Rajinikanth. In Kabali (2016), fans felt the superstar’s superstardom had been underplayed by Ranjith; this time the director goes all out.

And yet there are shades of grey too. This hero is a layered, conflicted Robin Hood. By referring to Kaala as Raavanan, a man who thinks with 10 brains, Pa Ranjith begins to builds the layers early on. As each head of Raavan is cut off during the narration of the Ramayan in the backdrop, we see