Rahul seeks Modi’s arrest for treason

Truth is always a casualty in any slugfest. As the war of words intensified between the Congress and the ruling BJP, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Modi of treason and sought his arrest under the Official Secrets Act, citing an email to claim Anil Ambani was aware of the Rafale deal days before India and France signed it.

Gandhi also released to the media an email dated March 28, 2015, purportedly written by Airbus executive Nicolas Chamussy to three recipients with the subject line "Ambani".

He claimed the email showed Ambani had visited the then French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian's office and mentioned a "MoU in preparation and the intention to sign it during the PM visit to France".

The BJP, however, rejected the charge, saying the email purportedly by an Airbus executive referred to a helicopter deal and not Rafale.

Reliance Defence, in a statement, also refuted Gandhi's allegation saying the "proposed MoU" mentioned in the email referred to its cooperation with Airbus Helicopter.

Incidentally, the Indian Express has carried a reports on its page one which says that in the fourth week of March 2015, about a fortnight before PM Modi announced the procurement of Rafale aircraft, Ambani had called on then French Defence Minister’s office in Paris and had a meeting with top advisors. Ambani, according to the Indian Express report, is said to have mentioned in the Paris meeting a Memorandum of Understanding that was to be signed during the PM visit. Not just that, in anticipation of what lies ahead, Ambani also incorporated Reliance Defence Ltd on March 28, 2015, it is claimed.

Rahul sees in this a collusion of sorts and alleged at a press conference that PM Modi had acted as a "middleman" of Ambani by sending him to France to deal with the French defence officials just a few weeks ahead of his own trip in April 2015.

To add to the discomfort of the BJP, Kapil Sabil also fired a salvo at the Centre. "It seems the Airbus, the French government and Anil Ambani -- all of them -- knew that the PM will sign an MOU on his visit to France between 9th and 11th April, 2015." He even attached to his tweet an Airbus email that that gives the details. "The government's lies are now exposed," he added.

Rahul latched onto this disclosure, too, and asserted that by leaking information on the Rafale MoU in advance to Anil Ambani, the PM has breached the Official Secrets Act and compromised national security, thereby exposing himself to criminal prosecution. "The PM has done what spies do, acting as the middleman of Anil Ambani. He is under oath to protect secrets related to national security and this is a clear violation that should put him in jail. PM is now answerable to the people of India," Rahul said. Addressing the press conference, Gandhi also slammed the yet to be tabled Comptroller and Auditor General report on the Rafale deal, and dubbed it "Chowkidar Auditor General" report.

"The CAG report is worthless. It is Narendra Modi's report, written for the Chowkidar, on behalf of the Chowkidar, by the Chowkidar," he said.