Cong keeps Rafale heat on, govt says all rules followed

NEW DELHI: On the day the Congress escalated its attack on the government over a media report suggesting that a bureaucrat red-flagged the purchase of Rafale jets on account of price, the defence ministry clarified that the deal was negotiated through a process involving due deliberations and diligence at various levels.

“The officer in question from the ministry of defence headquarters had signed the note considered and approved by the cabinet committee on security (CCS) on August 24, 2016. Thereafter, he proceeded for a oneweek training programme in September 2016 and not on leave for which he had applied to the department of personnel and training (DoPT) in July 2016,” said an official familiar with the developments.

The Indian Express reported on Thursday that nearly a month before the deal for 36 Rafale aircraft was signed between then defence minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart in New Delhi in September 2016, Rajiv Verma, joint secretary and acquisition manager (Air) in the defence ministry, then part of the contract negotia- tions committee (CNC), raised questions about the deal’s benchmark price and put his objections on record.

Speaking to a news channel, Verma on Thursday said he had not gone on leave in protest, and that his leave was for a planned training.

The report further said the official’s objections were later “overruled” by the director general (acquisition) Smitha Nagaraj.

Nagaraj couldn’t be reached for comment.

However, the defence ministry official countered, “The government has categorically stated earlier as well that all provisions laid down in the defence procurement procedure (DPP) and other relevant guidelines were fully followed in the acquisition of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft.”

CONGRESS LEADER JAIPAL REDDY SAID THAT WHEN A FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT (HOLLANDE) SAYS SOMETHING, THE COUNTRY NEEDS TO SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE

He said the apex decision making body for defence acquisitions, the defence acquisition council chaired by the defence minister, accepted the necessity for the acquisition of Rafale aircraft and mandated the CNC with the task of closing the deal. Following the stipulated process, the CCS accorded its approval to the acquisition on August 24, 2016, and not in September 2016.

Parliament has already been informed on July 18, 2018 that the audit of capital acquisition system, including the Rafale aircraft, is being conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the official said. He reiterated that price and other factors, including maintenance, training, armament and equipment, in the contract for 36 Rafale fighter aircraft represent better terms as compared to the negotiations conducted but never concluded by the previous government.

The report gave the Congress fresh ammunition to mount its attack on the BJP; the party said joint secretary, Rajiv Verma, had pointed out that the price negotiated by the previous UPA dispensation for 18 aircraft was cheaper than being paid for each of the 36 aircraft purchased by the Modi government.

“The joint secretary also pointed out that Euro Fighter had offered to supply an aircraft of the same kind at 20% price discount. So, he told the government to ask France to charge 20% less. Verma had to go on leave. Then came a superior officer, Smitha Nagaraj, who overruled him,” senior Congress leader Jaipal Reddy told reporters.

He claimed that the process of ratifying the agreement between Parrikar and his French counterpart was delayed by more than one year. It was ratified in September 2016 whereas the deal was signed between Modi and the then French president Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015, Reddy said. “It is an order of ₹60,000 crore. You are paying ₹41,000 crore more and took more than one year to ratify. It is an exceptional case of post-facto ratification,” the Congress leader said. Reddy also claimed that French president Emmanuel Macron did not contradict Hollande’s claim on the Rafale deal, and sought an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.

“The Rafale scam has begun to stink and the Prime Minister and his government have begun to sink,” he said. “It is getting thicker and thicker and curiouser and curiouser with every passing day. And when a former French president says something, this country needs to sit up and take notice.”