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by the media over the Rafale deal. Citing security. Continuing his attack on the On March 14, the apex court had
internal reports of the Defence Minis- ruling party, CPI(M) General Secretary reserved verdict on the preliminary
try, the Hindu had reported that the Sitaram Yechury said that through the objections raised by the Centre on
Defence Ministry had objected to paral- Rafale fighter jet deal with France, the admissibility of privileged documents
lel negotiations by the government. government “promoted cronyism”. annexed by former Union ministers
The Centre had claimed privilege “Modi and his govt have compro- Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and
over documents pertaining to the mised national security for corruption also activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan
Rafale fighter jet deal with France and and cronyism in an important defence in their review petition against the
said those documents cannot be con- deal. They tried to evade accountability, top court’s December 14 judgement
sidered in evidence as per Section 123 denied a JPC, hid price from CAG, tried that dismissed all petitions against the
of the Indian Evidence Act. to first mislead, then stall any hearing in Rafale jet deal.
The Centre had contended that no Supreme Court. Important that culprits The Centre had claimed privilege
one can produce them in the court are booked,” he tweeted. over documents pertaining to the Ra-
without the permission of the depart- “Modi and his minions have falsely fale fighter jet deal with France and said
ment concerned as those documents claimed that they have a ‘clean chit’ in those documents cannot be considered
are also protected under the Official the Rafale scam. But the proofs have in evidence as per Section 123 of the In-
Secrets Act and their disclosure is come tumbling out one after another. dian Evidence Act.
exempted under the Right to Informa- It has been the most corrupt and most Attorney General KK Venugopal,
tion Act as per Section 8(1)(a). appearing for the Centre had contend-
A three-judge bench headed by Chief ed that no one can produce them in the
Justice Ranjan Gogoi had on December The judgment makes court without the permission of the
14 dismissed all Public Interest Litiga- it clear that during department concerned as those docu-
tions (PILs) against the deal between ments are also protected under the
India and France for procurement of 36 the hearing of the Official Secrets Act and their disclosure
Rafale fighter jets, saying there was no review petition, the is exempted under the Right to Infor-
occasion to “really doubt the decision mation Act as per Section 8(1)(a).
making process” warranting setting bench will look not Prashant Bhushan had contended
aside of the contract. only into the question that the Centre’s objections were “mala
The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine fide and totally untenable arguments”.
Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft of pricing of the jets The top court had further noted
(MMRCA) manufactured by French but also selection of that according to the AG’s submis-
aerospace company Dassault Aviation. sions “there are three Rafale docu-
The Congress hailed the Supreme Indian offset partner ments whose publication comes under
Court’s decision, saying skeletons in the Official Secrets Act, 1923. These docu-
“scam” are tumbling out and now there of Dassault, which ments were unauthorisedly published.
is “no official secrets act” to hide behind manufactures Rafale You claim privilege under section 123
for the Modi government. “Modiji, you of Evidence Act. You want us to adju-
can run and lie as much as you want dicate and strike down the review on
but sooner or later the truth comes out. compromised govt in India’s history. this basis”.
The skeletons in Rafale scam are tum- Now is the time to throw it out,” he said. Prashant Bhushan had submitted a
bling out one by one. And now there is CPI National Secretary, Atul Kumar note countering the preliminary objec-
‘no official secrets act’ to hide behind,” Anjaan said the Supreme Court’s deci- tions raised by the centre on maintain-
Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep sion has completely “exposed” the Modi ability of the review petitions, stating
Surjewala said. government. “The Modi government that “preliminary objections are mala
“SC has upheld a time honoured has been exposed layer by layer in the fide and totally untenable arguments”.
legal principle; A rattled Modiji had Rafale scam. “The SC has rejected the He had said government cannot
threatened to invoke Official Secrets claims made by the Centre that the claim privilege over the documents
Act against independent journalists for documents related to the deal had been which are already published and is in
exposing his corruption on Rafale.Don’t stolen. Now, it is clear that the Modi public domain.
worry Modiji, an investigation is going government has done some scam in the Prashant Bhushan had said that Section
to take place now, whether you like it or Rafale deal,” he said. 123 Indian Evidence Act only protected
not,” he said in a series of tweets. On December 14, the Supreme Court “unpublished documents”.
The Left parties also praisedthe had dismissed petitions by several in-
decision, alleging that Modi govern- dividuals who had demanded a court- letters@tehelka.com
ment was compromising on national monitored probe into the Rafale deal.

Tehelka / 30 april 2019 45 www.Tehelka.com