Congress reiterates demand for joint parliamentary probe
NEW DELHI: Launching a fresh offensive against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government over the Rafale deal, the Congress on Friday reiterated its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe on the aircraft deal. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley rejected the demand.
After the Supreme Court effectively said that there is no wrongdoing in the deal, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed that the apex court has merely validated what the Opposition party has been saying -- that the courts are not the forum to decide the issue.
There have previously been JPC probes on several issues including the stock market scam of 1992, the 2G spectrum allocation scam in the late 2000s, and on the alleged presence of pesticides in cold drinks. Under this mechanism, members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha form a panel to probe a specific issue. The report of such panels often result in amendments in law or rules.
After the JPC report on the stock market scam, for instance, the government amended the Sebi Act to give more teeth to the market watchdog.
“I said that Article 136 and Article 32 are not the forum to decide the issue, the pricing, the process, the sovereign guarantee and the corruption in the Rafale contract. The only medium, the only forum is a Joint Parliamentary Committee which should probe the entire corruption in the Rafale deal, find out and decide who are the persons who are accused and then the process of law must be set in motion,” Surjewala said. His reference is to two sections of the constitution that detail the powers and the responsibility of the apex court.
“We went to Parliament and even today we are in Parliament demanding a JPC. We went to CAG (the Comptroller and Auditor General, the government’s auditor) , which is the other forum where this matter can be examined and if Government has nothing to hide, if (Prime Minister) Modi and his government has committed no corruption, then I challenge him to submit to a JPC probe.”
Jaitley said defence deals like the Rafale contract cannot be probed by bodies like the JPC, which typically are split on the basis of political affiliations, and they can be scrutinised only by a court of law.
The Congress has been disrupting Parliament demanding a JPC to inquire into the deal.
“The deaf will never receive an answer. They cannot hear it,” Jaitley said.
To a question about the Congress’ demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale deal, BJP chief Amit Shah said the opposition party first has to agree for a debate on the matter. Only after that can it be decided where such an investigation is required, he said.