Rafale verdict: Congress attacks govt for ‘lying’

FACTUAL BLOOMERS: Centre moves application in apex court seeking ‘correction of errors in the judgment’

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday turned the heat on Narendra Modi government for “lying and misleading” the Supreme Court leading to “factual bloomers” in the Rafale judgment even as the Centre scampered to the top court seeking “correction of the errors” in the verdict.

A day after the apex court, relying on “a CAG report”, dismissed multiple petitions seeking a probe into alleged irregularities in the deal, the Congress tore into the Modi government, saying “no portion of the CAG report has been placed before Parliament or was in the public domain”.

Amidst the Congress pressing for summoning of the attorney general and the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament in this connection, the Centre moved an application before the top court seeking “correction of errors in the judgment” that it claimed “occurred, perhaps, on account of a misinterpretation”.

At the centre of controversy is paragraph 25 of the judgment in which Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi-led bench observed: “The pricing details have, however, been shared with the CAG and the CAG report has been examined by the PAC. Only a redacted portion of the report was placed before the Parliament and is in public domain.”

Intensifying the attack, senior Congress leader and PAC Chairman Mallikarjun Kharge said he will press for summoning the attorney general and the CAG to ask them when was the public auditor’s report tabled and when did the PAC examine it.

“The government lied in the court that the CAG report was presented in the House and in PAC,” said Kharge, adding that the CAG will be questioned as to when was the report presented, when was it accepted, when was it brought to PAC, when was the evidence taken and when was it presented in Parliament.

Subsequently, addressing a media conference here, Congress leader and advocate Kapil Sibal said the Supreme Court verdict has “factual bloomers” for which the Modi-led Centre is responsible.

“If you give wrong facts to the court and on that basis, the court makes factual assertions, in that case it’s the government which is responsible,” said Sibal, and asserted that the apex court is neither the right forum to examine the “corruption” in the deal nor the verdict is a “clean chit” for the Bjp-led Centre.

“The Supreme Court can’t examine all the file notings or examine witnesses on oath including Prime Minister Modi, who needs to be questioned as also defence ministry officials.

“How can the government claim that the deal is clean and there is no corruption? The court nowhere said that,” Sibal said, iterating that only a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe can unearth the “corruption and crony capitalism” in the deal.

Facing the opposition’s heat, the Centre, through deputy secretary in the Ministry of Defence, pleaded with the top court to rectify the errors in the paragraph 25 of judgment, which it claimed “occurred on account of misinterpretation” and “resulted in a controversy in the public domain”.

The Centre said the statements (in para 25 of the judgment) appear to have been based on the note, along with the pricing details, submitted by the Union of India to the court in compliance with the court’s October 31 direction.

Only a redacted version of the report is placed before the Parliament and in public domain.

Congress leader Kharge said he will press for summoning the attorney general and the CAG to ask them when was the public auditor’s report tabled and when did the PAC examine it