Rafale Deal "Largest Defence Scam" In India's History: Prashant Bhushan
MUMBAI: Calling Rafale deal the "largest defence scam that the country has seen", lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan today hoped the CBI would act on the complaint made by him and two others against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the matter.
Speaking at an event organised by the Mumbai Press Club, the Supreme Court lawyer said if the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to follow due process and register a preliminary enquiry (PE) or an FIR, he will take the case to the court.
A PE is the first step of a probe by the CBI where the agency assesses whether the allegations have enough material for registering an FIR.
The Rs. 58,000-crore Rafale fighter jet deal has been at the centre of a raging political row with the Congress accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of wrongdoing. The government has rejected all allegations.
Responding to questions on whether the Rafale deal was similar to the Bofors scam of the 1980s, he said the present defence agreement with France was a much more serious and greater cause of concern.
"This (the Rafale deal) isn't merely a matter of securing commission for a particular company, as was the case in Bofors. This is the largest defence scam that the country has seen," Mr Bhushan said.
"To begin with, it deals with much more money. It left the Indian Air Force high and dry, and by securing offset contracts for Anil Ambani's new company that has no experience in building fighter aircraft, it also puts our national security at risk," he said.
On October 4, Mr Bhushan, former BJP minister Yashwant Sinha and senior journalist Arun Shourie submitted a written complaint to the CBI over the Rafale deal. The complaint named PM Modi and former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
It urged the CBI to register a PE against them on various charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act for a range of alleged offences committed in April 2015 in the course of buying 36 Rafale jets from French firm Dassault Aviation.
In the complaint, Mr Bhushan and the others questioned how Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence, an Indian offset partner of Dassault, could be involved in the deal as it had no prior experience in the field and most other companies of the industrialist "were in debt".
"We are yet to hear from the CBI. If due process is followed, the CBI should register an FIR based on the complaint. However, if that doesn't happen then we'll take the matter to court," Mr Bhushan said.
In September 2016, India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to buy the jets, the delivery of which is slated to begin from September 2019.
Mr Bhushan alleged that while the government had refused to reveal the per plane rate, the deal was over priced and that the French firm had been made to chose Reliance Defence at the insistence of the prime minister.
Mr Bhushan said the initial plan was to get 126 aircrafts. While 30 per cent of these were to be made by Dassault, the rest were to be made here in India by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), he said.
In his complaint, he has alleged that just months before the deal was finalised, the then Foreign Secretary, S Jaishankar, had said HAL would be involved in the process of getting the 126 aircrafts.
"It is significant that Mr Modi chose to keep the IAF, HAL, the Foreign Ministry, and even the Defence Ministry in the dark about his impending designs," the complaint reads.
Last month, a French media outlet quoted former President Francois Hollande as saying his government "did not have a say" in choosing Reliance for the deal since the Indian government had proposed the private company's name.
However, both Dassault and the French government have denied any such imposition. Dassault has said it had freely chosen to partner with Reliance to fulfill its offset requirements as part of the deal.
Anil Ambani has already emphasised that the government had no role in Dassault picking up his company as a local partner.
He had written to Congress president Rahul Gandhi on December 12, 2017, refuting allegations of his company lacking experience to bag the deal.
Anil Ambani had written that Reliance Defence, with the largest shipyard in the private sector at Pipavav in Gujarat, was currently building five Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPVs) for the Indian Navy and 14 Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard.
The Congress has been raising several questions about the deal, including on the rates, and has accused the Modi government of compromising national interest and security while causing a loss to the public exchequer.
Courtesy: www.ndtv.com
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Pak police registers case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on LeT co-founder
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Lahore (PTI): Pakistan's Punjab Police on Friday registered a case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) co-founder Amir Hamza, who suffered bullet injuries in the attack in Lahore.
On Thursday, two unidentified gunmen riding on a bike opened fire on the vehicle of the private TV channel 24NewsHD TV, owned by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, on Peco Road in Lahore near the TV channel's office.
In the attack, Hamza suffered bullet injuries.
"The FIR has been registered against unidentified gunmen, but it is sealed forthwith," a senior police officer told PTI.
He said the intelligence agencies have taken over this case from the police, and they are currently investigating the matter.
The channel's religious programme host Justice (retd.) Nazir Ahmed Ghazi and Hamza were in the vehicle when it was attacked. Hamza was shifted to a hospital for treatment.
Punjab police on Friday said that "upon receiving information about the incident, the SSP Operations immediately reached the scene and a high alert was imposed in the area. SSP Operations Tauqeer Naeem also met the affected individuals. Thankfully, all present in the vehicle remained safe during the firing."
It further said senior police officers of the Township and Chung, along with a heavy police contingent, were present at the scene.
"Police collected evidence from the site and initiated an investigation. Efforts to arrest the suspects are underway using CCTV footage and geo-fencing techniques. Search and sweep operations are being conducted at various locations, with scrutiny of suspicious individuals ongoing," police said.
It added that those involved in the incident will be traced and arrested soon.
The police sources said that Hamza has been shifted to his residence in Jauhar Town, Lahore, where police and agency personnel met him.
The leadership of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), including Hafiz Saeed's son Hafiz Talha Saeed, also called on him.
TV host retired Justice Ghazi, who remained unhurt in the attack, remained a legal counsel for Hafiz Saeed, they said.
The PMML has strongly condemned the attack on Hamza and demanded that those involved in the incident be arrested immediately.
Hamza is regarded as LeT's second most important leader after its chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 after getting convicted for several years in terror financing cases.
Hamza has been designated as a terrorist by the US. In the past, he served as the head of LeT's "special campaigns" department.
In 2018, Hamza formed a fundraising group for the LeT following a ban on the JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation by the Pakistani government.
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